The information in this section is not unique, this is just general advice for new 7D2D players.

It's surprising how many people ask about graphic settings in YouTube comments or on Discord servers, so I figured to add this in just in case the concept is new for some players.

General Tuning for most users (applicable to 85% of players):
0. Before you enter a game world/save, change your Video (Graphics) Settings from the 7D2D Main Menu.
1. Dynamic Mesh > Dynamic Mesh Enabled: Off
2. Quality > Quality Preset: High 
That's it.  Most people can stop there and be happy with the game's performance.
For casual gamers with a good PC, you can stop reading.  

Most middle to higher level hardware should have no problem running this game at High settings.

TFP recommends High settings for most players. 

The majority of the serious content creators like GNS run their games on High settings, but often make personal tweaks to individual settings.  You could call it "High-Custom".  

Even S-tier hardware can struggle with running 7D2D on Ultra Settings.
This is not a hardware issue, this is an issue with the game engine not being optimized for performance. 

If you have a high-end system, you can also consider overclocking your system as well, but that will not be covered here. 
Use YouTube from reputable hardware overclocking channels.    

If your computer can handle it, and you are recording, you could run Ultra settings, but it will stress test your CPU, RAM, and CPU Cooling system.  The bottleneck is rarely the GPU with 7d2d. I have a fairly high end system and can run Ultra but get only 50-120 FPS on average.  I record YT on Ultra.  When I play at Ultra, the fans run high and loud, while temps go up even with water cooling.  

When I run Ultra-Custom vanilla, I get 30-120 FPS.
When I run Ultra-Custom with a ton of mods, I get from 20-80.  
When I run High-Custom, I get 80-240 FPS consistently. 

I recently started using the Lossless Scaling application and now get 40-80 FPS consistently while using my heavily modded Smorgasbord Modlist.  Here is another article if you'd like to learn more about Lossless Scaling.


Playing 7D2D on Potato-Grade Hardware
Yes, it can be done, but you have to temper your expectations and lower your standards.
Set most settings to Low, Off, or Medium.  There are dedicated YouTube videos covering this.  


Advanced Tuning Suggestions for users with above average computer literacy

• Install the game on an SSD.  Remember to have Generated Worlds, Game Saves, and Mods also running on an SSD.  It's best if everything is on the same SSD.  
  

• Go into your BIOS/UEFI settings, and enable eXtremeMemoryProfile (XMP) if it is available.
  

• Update your graphic card drivers.
  

• In Windows > Game Mode = On
  

• In Windows > Power Management settings > set them to High or Ultimate Performance mode, not eco-mode.
  

• In Windows > Graphic Settings > Hardware-Accelerated GPU Settings should be On.
  

• For NVIDIA GPU users, use the NVIDIA Control Panel 
  

• Play with Low Latency Mode.  On/Off
• Play with the Locked FPS settings.  
• Change Resolution, to the correct resolution of your monitor.
• Monitor Refresh Rate.  Set it to the maximum level your monitor can handle.
  

• Before you enter a game world/save, change your Video Graphic Settings from the 7D2D Main Menu.
  

• Dynamic Mesh > Dynamic Mesh Enabled: Off
  

• Display > Resolution, set it appropriately for your Monitor.
  

• Display > Fullscreen: On
  

• Display > Vsync: Off
  

• Display > Field of View can effect FPS, but it's negligible.  
  

• Quality > Quality Preset: High (it will become Custom as you tweak additional settings)
• Quality > Anti-Aliasing: Off
• Quality > Texture Quality: Full (you might have to tweak this lower if you have insufficient RAM. If you are above 8GB you should be fine)
• Quality > Texture Filter: Ultra (you might have to tweak this lower if you have insufficient RAM.  If you are above 8GB you should be fine)
• Quality > Reflection Quality: Off
• Quality > Reflected Shadows: Off
• Quality > Shadow Distance: Low
• Quality > Shadow Quality: Off
• Quality > Motion Blur: Off
• Quality > SS Reflections: Off
  

• Quality > Particles: 20% 
• Quality > View Distance: Medium 
• Quality > LOD Distance: 25%
• Quality > Terrain Quality: Medium
• Quality > Water Quality: High
• Quality > Grass Distance: Medium
• Quality > Object Quality: Medium
• Quality > Occlusion: Off
• Quality > Bloom: Off
• Quality > Depth of Field: Off
• Quality > Motion Blur: Off
• Quality > SSAO: Off
• Quality > SS Reflections: Off
• Quality > Sun Shafts: Off
  

• Don't plant too many trees in one area, especially near your base, the trader, or the edge of a city.  Too many trees in one place will tank your FPS.
  

• Don't use too many light sources in one area, especially near your base, the trader, or the edge of a city.  Too many light sources in one place will tank your FPS.
  

• Don't Leeroy Jenkins!  If you run through a large high tier POI activating every zombie in the building, it can drop your FPS.  
  

• Update your GPU Drivers, and or play at lower settings.  
• Update your monitors firmware.
• Don't go monkeying around with video settings if you don't know what you are doing, or you will cause these errors.  
• Stick with a major graphic level setting (like High), and don't use custom settings unless you know what you are doing.  
• If you are playing 7D2D with a Super Ultrawidescreen resolution, try playing with a more modest resolution... I don't care how beefy your rig is, the game is not optimized for Ultra/High graphics at 5120x1440!  
• Verify Files in Steam.