Tired of upgrading your GPU to play the latest games? Well, you can mod them instead. Modding Elden Ring to run on your old, outdated GPUs showcases the art of playing games at minimal settings, and the results are surprisingly playable. All you need is an old GPU, a dusty PC, and a willingness to tinker around with game files.
Modding Elden Ring for Outdated GPUs
At first glance, Elden Ring looks like a demanding game. It’s running on the UE4 engine, it uses physically-based rendering, and the graphics settings are extensive. But what if I told you that you could play the game at high settings without a modern GPU? Well, you’d probably call me a liar, but it’s true.
The video below shows how you can use a mod to change settings in Elden Ring, effectively removing performance-hindering elements like the giant Elden Tree. Adjusting settings using DSMapStudio and replacing a DLL enables the game to run on a non-DX12 GPU like the GTX 660. The biggest stressor was the giant Elden Tree, and removing it significantly improved performance. Grass and shadows were also causing slowdowns, but adjusting their LODs through modding helped alleviate the issue.
The result is a smooth and playable experience, even on high settings. The modder says their ancient computer can run the game at 50-60fps on high settings with the modded adjustments.
The beauty of PC gaming lies in the ability to optimize games even on unsupported GPUs. I remember being a poor college student gaming on a hand-me-down laptop, and the sense of accomplishment I felt when I could run a game like The Witcher 2 on low settings is hard to describe. It was a reminder of how far I’d come and how much my tastes had changed in just a few years.
Games with simpler, more stylistic graphics invoke that nostalgia, and the modded version of Elden Ring still looks quite decent. I’d even say it’s a bit more atmospheric with its unique language choices, such as “enemy fellen.”
The modding process itself isn’t particularly complicated, and you could do it in around 5 minutes. You’ll obviously need to know how to use external editors, but the internet has tutorials for everything. The biggest barrier is likely finding the DLLs for the game, as well as figuring out which settings are safe to change.
This video shows how to change settings in Elden Ring using DSMapStudio and replacing a DLL to enable the game to run on a non-DX12 GPU like the GTX 660.
If you can do all that, why stop there? Maybe you want to play the Witcher 2 on low settings, or you could try and get Devil May Cry 5 running at 30fps. The possibilities are endless, and game developers should really consider allowing us to access and tweak these settings.
