The lab.
One rig, blunt grades, no magic settings. Everything the lab knows about frames, settings, and statuses.
Boost fps.
The lab checklist for frames: right GPU, current driver, 1080p Performance preset, shader patience, NVMe, nothing else running.
◎ At a glance
Reviewed 2026-10-13.
| Target | 1080p 60 fps on Stable titles |
| Preset | Performance, discrete GPU |
| First launch | Shader hitches are normal |
| Storage | NVMe for streaming titles |
The checklist, in order
- Select the discrete GPU in the Kiln launcher. Integrated graphics running the show is the number one frame killer.
- Update the GPU driver — NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel, current release. Update the iGPU driver too; a stale one interferes.
- Run the 1080p Performance preset. The lab grades at 1080p. Starting at 1440p or 4K and complaining is user error.
- Put the game on NVMe. Streaming titles stutter on slow disks no matter what the GPU does.
- Close overlays, recorders, and browsers. The reference rig runs the game and nothing else.
Shader stutter is not a bug
First launch compiles shaders as new effects appear. New district, new spell, new weather — brief hitch, then smooth. The cache persists, so the second session is better.
Beta titles like Marvel's Wolverine build cache through the first hour. Judge frames after the cache fills, not during.
If stutter never fades, re-check steps 1 and 2. Wrong GPU or old driver mimics shader problems.
Honest limits
1440p and 4K are not lab targets. Some Stable titles hold them on strong hardware; most do not. The grade on the page is the 1080p grade.
CPU-bound scenes — big cities, dense hunts — do not scale with GPU upgrades. See GPU and CPU for why.
Kiln is a PlayStation 5 emulator for Windows PC graded on one reference rig. Your frames follow your hardware.
Questions
Why does my game stutter on first launch?
Shader compilation. New effects hitch once while they compile, then run smooth. The cache persists between sessions.
Can Kiln do 4K 60fps?
4K is not a lab target. Some Stable titles hold high resolutions on strong hardware, but grades are earned at 1080p.
I did everything and frames are still low. Now what?
Compare your PC honestly against the reference rig. Below lab class, Beta-level frames on heavy titles are the expected outcome, not a bug.
Related
Best settings.
No magic config. The lab baseline: 1080p, Performance preset, discrete GPU, VSync off, game on NVMe.
Reference rig.
One PC grades everything: 8-core CPU, RTX 3070, 32 GB RAM, NVMe, Windows 11. Every status on the roster comes from this machine.
GPU and CPU.
GPU: Vulkan 1.3, 8 GB+ VRAM, current driver, discrete device selected. CPU: 8 real cores. Everything else is secondary.
NVMe vs SATA.
NVMe: fast travel in seconds. SATA: the same trips, noticeably longer. The lab grades on NVMe.
Windows installer · 400+ titles in the launcher
Get the launcher.
Install Firmware with your own PS5UPDATE.PUP, boot the system software, then start a game you own.