Cities Skylines 2 Performance Guide
How to improve FPS on low-end and mid-range PCs
Cities Skylines 2 is one of the most demanding city builders ever made. Even decent PCs struggle with performance once cities grow. This Cities Skylines 2 performance guide explains why the game runs slowly and shows the best graphics settings and hardware upgrades to improve FPS.
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Why Cities Skylines 2 Runs So Badly
Huge population simulation
Cities: Skylines simulates thousands (sometimes hundreds of thousands) of individual citizens, vehicles, and services at the same time. Each one has its own job, home, route, and behaviour that the game must constantly track and update.
CPU heavy
Most of the simulation (traffic pathfinding, citizens going to work, service calculations, economy updates) runs on the CPU. As the population grows, the CPU has to process far more calculations every second.
RAM heavy
The game stores large amounts of data in memory—buildings, assets, citizens, vehicles, and map data. Using many assets/mods or having a huge city increases the amount of RAM required to keep everything loaded.
Late game slowdown
When cities become very large, the CPU eventually can’t process all the simulation calculations quickly enough. The game slows the simulation speed, so citizens and vehicles move slower even if FPS is still okay.
Best Graphics Settings for Low-End PCs
These graphics settings provide the best balance between performance and visual quality for low-end and mid-range PCs.
| Setting | Recommended |
| Global Quality | Low |
| Anti-Aliasing | None |
| Motion Blur | Off |
| Volumetrics | Low |
| Resolution Scaling | 80% |
Extra Tips to Improve FPS
Close background applications
Programs running in the background can use CPU and RAM. Closing unnecessary apps can free up resources for Cities Skylines 2.
Avoid extremely large cities early
Simulation performance slows down as city population increases. Expanding gradually can help maintain performance.
Limit heavy mods
Some mods significantly increase CPU calculations. Use performance-friendly mods where possible.
Increase RAM if possible
Upgrading to 32GB RAM can help reduce slowdowns in large cities.
Recommended Hardware Upgrades for Cities Skylines 2
If performance is still poor after adjusting settings, upgrading your hardware can make a significant difference.
| Upgrade | Benefit |
|---|---|
| 32GB RAM | Better late-game performance |
| Faster CPU | Better simulation speed |
| SSD | Faster loading |
FAQ
Is Cities Skylines 2 CPU or GPU heavy?
Cities Skylines 2 is primarily CPU heavy because most of the simulation calculations run on the processor.
Is 16GB RAM enough for Cities Skylines 2?
16GB RAM is enough for smaller cities, but larger cities often benefit from 32GB RAM.
Do mods reduce performance?
Some mods increase CPU calculations or add more simulation elements, which can reduce performance.
This guide is based on testing Cities Skylines 2 on a Ryzen 5 2600X, GTX 1660 and 16GB RAM system.