Despite popular opinions, teardown is a well optimized game. If your computer can't run it, or runs at single-digit fps, this guide will not fix it. However, if you struggle to hit 60fps, or have inconsistent framerates, this is the guide for you. Make sure to check your fps counter[www.pcmag.com] to evaluate your performance at every point.

This game will bring even the most powerful gaming rig to it's knees when kitted out with modded nukes and such. Even if your PC is good, this guide will help you push things even further!

I've ordered things in the order I recommend trying them.

GPU - Huge Improvement
CPU - Little/No Improvement

Resolution scaling is rendering the game at a lower resolution, then scaling it up to fit your display. Less pixels rendered means less load on your GPU.

Teardown includes a basic implementation of resolution scaling, under [Options > Graphics > Render Scale], but it just uses basic bilinear filtering and isn't ideal. Here's a better method:

1. Use the in-game resolution scaling [Options > Graphics > Render Scale] to make sure this will actually help you. If you're CPU limited, it might not make a difference. Try setting it to 50% and see if your FPS improves.
   
2. Now that you know resolution scaling will work, download the tool Magpie, which enables high-quality scaling in all windows apps, by clicking this link.[url][github.com]
3. Switch teardown to windowed mode [Options > Graphics > Display] and select your desired render resolution. Lower resolutions = higher FPS, as long as you're still limited by your GPU.
   
4. Extract the zip if you haven't already, then run Magpie.exe, and select your desired scaling mode. (I recommend FSR) Also select "DwmSharedSurface" under capture method!
   
5. With the Teardown window focused, press the hotkey shown in magpie to enable scaling.

You will need to do steps 4 and 5 every time you run the game. You can set magpie to run at startup, skipping step 4.

Resolution scaling primarily effects the GPU, so there will be a point where it no longer improve things further. Additionally, while FSR makes the game look closer to your monitor's resolution, a higher render resolution will always look more clean and detailed. Try different resolutions to see what works best for you.

Note: Magpie may run at a lower framerate than the game itself, leading to microstutter!
If you have this issue (or just want to prevent it) increase the process priority of magpie to "High" or "Realtime"[www.thewindowsclub.com]

GPU - Moderate Improvement
CPU - Huge Improvement
Mainly effects performance drops during destruction

Various performance mods exist for Teardown. While some include a variety of features, the only one that really makes a difference is the removal of small objects or "debris." Simulating a lot of object kills performance! Teardown will actually remove some debris on it's own, but only very small pieces, and only when looking away.

The best of these mods is my own Dynamic Debris Removal. It scales based on framerate, so if you have bad performance it will do a lot, but if you have 60fps or greater it will leave things alone.

Installing a Mod:

1. Go to the steam workshop page of the mod you want to install. In this case, Dynamic Debris Removal
   
2. Click the subscribe button. (If you opened the link in your browser you may need to log in)
   
3. Open Teardown, and click on [Play > Mods] in the main menu.
   
4. Find the mod in the mod list and click on it, then select enabled. You can also customize options now.

Try the different settings presets and find what works best for you. Note that this won't do anything until objects are destroyed/damaged.

GPU - No Improvement
CPU - Low/Moderate Improvement

WARNING: DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Exploit protection prevents malicious applications from gaining access to parts of your system they shouldn't be able to. While Teardown is not a malicious program, it is possible malware may be developed that pretends to be Teardown, or the game may get otherwise compromised.

This can give a moderate boost to older intel CPUs, and minor improvements on any CPU.

How to disable exploit protection for Teardown:

1. In your steam library, right-click on Teardown and select "Properties" Then, "Local Files > Browse Local Files"
   
2. Click on the path in File Explorer and copy it.
   
3. Search "Exploit Protection" in the start menu and open it
   
4. Go to Program Settings, then click "Add program to customize" and select "Choose exact file path"
   
5. Paste the path into the window that opens and select Teardown.exe
   
6. Find "Control Flow Guard CFG" and check "Override System Settings" underneath it. Then switch it to Off. (If you wish, you can do this for other settings, but it's unlikely to do much if anything for performance)

GPU - Huge Improvement (AMD only)
CPU - No Improvement

AMD ONLY, Not Recommended

This one's pretty drastic, and probably not worth it unless you already have a Linux install. See if you're happy with the above suggestions before even considering it.

Teardown uses the OpenGL rendering API. AMD's drivers have terrible OpenGL support.
On Linux, you can use the alternative, open source "Mesa" drivers. Mesa drivers have much better OpenGL support on AMD GPUs, and will give a typical improvement of a massive 50% in GPU-limited scenarios.

I will NOT go over how to install linux, or get windows games running on it, in this guide. I will note that the best results are supported using this fork of proton[github.com].