A hand-drawn 2D metroidvania set in a vast ruined kingdom — featherlight to run and comfortably pushing hundreds of frames on almost any PC.
Hollow Knight is Team Cherry's hand-drawn action-adventure through Hallownest, a sprawling and interconnected underground kingdom of bugs, secrets and punishing combat. Because the entire game is built from 2D vector-style artwork rather than heavy 3D rendering, it is astonishingly light on hardware — integrated graphics and old laptops run it flawlessly, and modern GPUs sit almost idle while holding very high, perfectly stable frame rates. The options menu is deliberately minimal: there are no texture, shadow or effect sliders to tune, so the only meaningful choices are display mode, VSync and matching your monitor's native resolution and refresh rate.
Built for competitive players who want the highest frame rate and lowest input latency.
Hollow Knight exposes only a handful of video options, so the highest, smoothest frame rate simply means turning VSync off and unlocking the engine from your refresh rate. There are no quality sliders to strip out — the menu really is this short.
| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Display Mode | Full Screen | Exclusive fullscreen gives the most consistent frame pacing. |
| Resolution | Native (e.g. 1920x1080) | — |
| Monitor | Primary high-refresh display | — |
| VSync | Off | Unlocks FPS above your refresh rate and shaves a little input latency. |
| Particle Effects | Off | The only visual toggle that touches GPU load; off wins the last few frames on weak hardware. |
Maximum visual fidelity for players who prefer the best-looking image.
There is very little to 'max out' in Hollow Knight, so the best-looking configuration is native resolution with every effect on and VSync enabled for perfectly tear-free, evenly paced motion.
| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Display Mode | Full Screen | — |
| Resolution | Native (highest available) | — |
| Monitor | Primary display | — |
| VSync | On | Eliminates tearing for the cleanest presentation; caps FPS to your refresh rate. |
| Particle Effects | On | — |
The sweet spot between frame rate and visuals. Drag the slider to shift the balance.
The sensible everyday setup: keep the full hand-drawn look with particle effects on, but leave VSync off so the frame rate stays well above your refresh rate on all but the weakest hardware.
| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Display Mode | Full Screen | — |
| Resolution | Native (e.g. 1920x1080) | — |
| Monitor | Primary display | — |
| VSync | Off | Keeps latency low; enable it only if you notice screen tearing. |
| Particle Effects | On | Adds dust, spores and combat flourishes at negligible cost on modern GPUs. |
| Metric | CompetitiveMax Frame Rate | BalancedBalanced | High GraphicsBest Visuals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input Latency | Lowest | Low | Standard |
| Graphics Quality | |||
| GPU Usage | Low | Low | Low |
| Competitive Score | 90/100 | 78/100 | 62/100 |
| Recommended For | High-refresh 144Hz+ panels and precise pogo/boss platforming where frame consistency matters. | Most players — the full-fidelity look with plenty of frame-rate headroom. | Relaxed exploration and capture on a single monitor where tear-free image quality is the priority. |
Official minimum and recommended specs for Hollow Knight.
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 version 21H1 (build 19043) or newer | Windows 10 version 21H1 (build 19043) or newer |
| Processor | Intel Core i3-3240, AMD FX-4300 | Intel Core i5-3470 |
| Memory | 4 GB RAM | 8 GB RAM |
| Graphics | GeForce GTX 560 Ti (1GB), Radeon HD 7750 (1GB) | GeForce GTX 1050 (2GB), Radeon R9 380 (2GB) |
| DirectX | Version 10 | Version 10 |
| Storage | 9 GB available space | 9 GB available space |
Minimum
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 version 21H1 (build 19043) or newer Processor: Intel Core i3-3240, AMD FX-4300 Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: GeForce GTX 560 Ti (1GB), Radeon HD 7750 (1GB) DirectX: Version 10 Storage: 9 GB available space
Recommended
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS: Windows 10 version 21H1 (build 19043) or newer Processor: Intel Core i5-3470 Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: GeForce GTX 1050 (2GB), Radeon R9 380 (2GB) DirectX: Version 10 Storage: 9 GB available space
Source: Steam
Pick your hardware and preset to estimate your frame rate — results update instantly.
Frame generation is never counted: every figure is rendered frames only.
Your Estimated Hollow Knight Performance
High (assumed from the recommended spec) · native · 1080p
245
Low end
273
Estimate
300
High end
FPS values displayed on GamerSpecs are estimates. Actual game performance may vary depending on hardware configuration, drivers, cooling, power limits, background applications, and game updates.
How is this calculated?Safe, technically-sound tips to get the most out of Hollow Knight.
Hollow Knight has no quality presets — if it ever stutters, the fix is almost always VSync or a background app, not an in-game graphics setting.
Turn VSync off to uncap the frame rate on high-refresh monitors, or on if you see tearing; that single toggle is the main lever you have.
The game runs from a tiny footprint, so installing it on an SSD mainly speeds up loads and bench-warp transitions rather than in-level FPS.
Set the game to your monitor's native resolution and refresh rate in Windows display settings for the sharpest, smoothest image.
If a laptop throttles during long sessions, it's thermal — clean the vents and use a high-performance power plan rather than lowering the (mostly absent) graphics options.
Particle Effects is the only setting that measurably touches the GPU; disable it only if you're chasing frames on very old integrated graphics.