Performance Tweaks and Suggestions! Stutter, Crash, and Freeze FIX!

SOTR is extremely CPU intensive on some of the older CPUs, some might have to wait for a patch to fix performance. I have recommended these steps to multiple people and all have reported doing these fixed their stuttering and improved FPS. Have been informed the BIOS update has also fixed crashing for some people!

My Specs:
i5-8600k @4.7ghz
GTX 1080ti FTW3
16GB 2666mhz DDR4 Ram
Installed on clean 250GB SSD

What to do.

Firstly, set the game in task manager to run at High Priority, keep in mind you will have to do this everytime you launch the game, and make sure to disable Nvidia Highlights for the game, it will ask on first time start up just click No. And if you already have it enabled just disable it in settings.(People have been stating that the new Geforce driver is the cause, I assure you it is not make sure you're up to date and just disable highlights for SOTR)

Second, check for any BIOS updates for your MOBO and CPU, you should be updating it as often as possible anyway but this step is crucial if you either never have or haven't in awhile, I would recommend checking for new BIOS updates about once a month and always stay current.(This step has fixed stuttering and FPS drops for multiple people I have talked to in the discussions, all had outdated BIOS)

Make sure to check for driver updates for your GPU, do any windows updates if you have any and make sure you're running at least windows 10, anything lower isn't recommended.

TURN OFF DIRECTX 12 IF YOU DON'T HAVE A DX12 GPU! (It comes pre enabled even if you have an incompatible GPU) DirectX12 will only improve FPS in compatible systems. If you have a DX12 GPU leave it on, it will help performance tremendously.

For in game settings don't just throw that it on max and then get mad when you can't run it smoothly, I have everything on max with a few custom tweaks to better performance while still looking the best it can, anyone running SMAA 4x turn it down use 2x or lower. SMAA 4x is pretty demanding and doesn't look any different from SMAA 2x. Motion Blur off of course and I am using Vsync but only on the Half Refresh Rate setting. Use exclusive fullscreen it improves performance and if you need to change your refresh rate having it on exclusive fullscreen will let you.(Turning AA to SMAAT2x from SMAA4x gave me a 33fps boost from 85fps average in benchmark to 118fps average with only changing that one setting)

Anyone experiencing heavy crashing or game not launching at all disable Nvidia Ansel. And if you are using BitDefender it will also block the launch of the game.

Switching to the beta version of the game in properties on Steam has helped people with DX12 and Exclusive Fullscreen issues so I would recommend switching to the beta update if you need some more help.

I will be posting an edit if I figure something else out that helps. And if you found a fix feel free to post any ideas in the comments! Hope this helps!

Screenshots with these settings!

[Tattoo [US]]

I have an i9-12900K, 32 ram and an Asus RTX 3090 TUF Gaming 24 gig video card and it still kept crashing on me. Then I installed GeForce experience, and it optimized my settings. It was better but it did still crash a couple times towards the end. With a pc like this, one would think it wouldn't crash but it still does. I'm gonna try the exclusive fullscreen and see if that helps. Thanks for the tips.

[Hiotsu 🪼]

game performance is bad on 1660ti and ryzen 5 2600x 32Gb RAM lol
but I'll try your tips

[Hiotsu 🪼]

Oh. It gives me hope I will replay thiy game second time in my life. First one was so laggy so I somehow finished it. Now I will try your advices. If it works, can I make same manual but on my mother tongue? I mean can I translate your manual on ukrainian language and post it?

[FFox]

Another tip is to MANUALLY limit the framerate using an external program, In my case I use RivaTuner... Enabling the VSYNC + manual FPS lock is the best you can do however, vsync on means there will be some input lag but it is a singleplayer game most of the time, it is not that much of an issue. Seriously RivaTuner does an amazing job keeping this game at the desired FPS, you save energy you dont generate extra frames than needed. Shouldnt be much more than your monitor max refresh. About task manager and high priority? totally agree. And now that DENUVO has been removed this game must run even better.

[ShadowX1312]

god im glad im not the only one having trouble with this game lol. I just got a new gpu. Hoping I may actually be able to play this bloody game now. wish me luck!

[Castade]

your computers are unbalanced, trying to push a 1080 ti or higher with an i5 cpu in the first place. if you going to upgrade your gpu to high-end, the rest of the hardware needs to be upgraded as well, silly to have a corvette with a 4 cylinder engine.

[Dilet]

Runs like complete dog sh*t with a i5 2500K at 5.1ghz. Running it with a RTX 2060S at 1080p high 2xmsaa nets about 30-60 depending on the area.

[jlnr7]

I have a i5-8600k (@4.5Ghz), a GTX 1060 6GB (Stock), and 32 GB of RAM.

In the newest patch (298 or #19) when i use DX12 it freezes or crashes.

In DX12 When i turn Shadows off, V-sync off, Screen Space Reflections off, Volumetric Lights off, Exclusive Fullscreen off, Motion Blur off, Bloom off,

with TAA, all remaining setting normal or high, HBAO+, Tesselation on, Lens Flare on, Screen Effects on. Texture Quality High, Texture Filtering 16x

It plays normally without crashes at 60+ fps.

with the above settings in DX11 with normal Shadows i get 45-60+ FPS without freezes or crashes.

Always turn of Vsync In-game and enable it in Nvidia Panel, Exclusive Fullscreen gave me a lot of crashes, GPU overclocking crashes the game, CPU overclocking doesn't seem to affect it that much.

That's my current research so far.

[Todd444]

I have tried so much with this game, Still crashes. havent had it installed for ages now. Managed to finish it ish. Such a shame, tarnished itself

[NoiT]

Game still runs like shit in towns. The last game in the series and they do us PC players like this.. should be ashamed of them selves.