How to fix lag and stuttering in Half-Life: Alyx

This tutorial tells you how to fix Half-Life: Alyx FPS and stuttering issues on Oculus headsets (might work on other headsets as well)

Introduction

SteamVR has some major issues with how it utilizes CPU priorities when running on Oculus headsets on certain CPUs, it could also affect non-oculus headsets, so trying this solution out might be worth it if you are experiencing poor performance in Half-Life: Alyx.

It is not clear whether this problem is with Oculus or SteamVR, but this tutorial will partially fix that issue. You still won't be getting the same performance you would get on a non-oculus headset.

The Fix

Make sure to do this step before looking at any of the other potential solutions, as this will increase your fps by about 2x
For me doing this step makes the framerate in Half-Life: Alyx go from 30-50 fps to 70-90 fps.

Start by installing Prio 64 bit version: https://www.prnwatch.com/prio/
After you have installed it, make sure to reboot your PC to finish the installation (it won't work if you don't reboot).

Next run Oculus, SteamVR and Half-Life: Alyx.
Once they are all running launch task manager, select the details tab from the top bar, set the priority for OVRServer_x64.exe, vrserver.exe, vrcompositor.exe and hlvr.exe to "high", make sure "save priority" is ticked. (If prio doesn't work, you can also try Process Hacker, or changing the value in Windows Registry editor)

Other Solutions

Here is a list of other things that will boost your fps, though not by nearly as much as the previous step.

• Update your GPU drivers. Both NVIDIA and AMD have released driver updates specifically for Half-Life: Alyx
  
• Right click the game in your Steam library, then go to "properties" and "set launch options". Paste the following: -novid -console -vconsole +vr_fidelity_level_auto 0 +vr_fidelity_level 3 +vr_render_scale 1.0
  
• Set windows power saving mode to performance
  
• Disable Windows game mode
  
• Disable SteamVR Super Sampling
  
• Close all unnecessary programs running in the background
  
• Close any programs that add overlays, or disable the overlays (f.lux, discord, geforce experience etc.)
  
• Make sure your RAM sticks are installed in the correct motherboard slots
  
• Do the "How To Boost FPS, Stuttering Fix" steps listed in this tutorial: https://respawnfirst.com/half-life-alyx-steam-vr-failed-initialization-fix/
  
• Wait for OpenComposite to be updated to work with Half-Life: Alyx, so you can disable SteamVR altogether: https://gitlab.com/znixian/OpenOVR/blob/master/README.md (check update status on their Discord)

Upgrading your PC

If all else fails, you will have to upgrade your pc. You can follow this guide to find out what you will need to upgrade.

First make sure you meet the minimum requirements listed on the store page. After doing that check if you need to upgrade your CPU or GPU by downloading MSI Afterburner.

Follow this tutorial to set up the performance overlay:

Once you have done that, launch Half-Life: Alyx and load a savegame. Put your headset on your forehead so that it still renders the in-vr view. Look at your monitor and see if your GPU or CPU run at 100% load. Your CPU will most likely be the one that bottlenecks your performance.

A Ryzen 5 3600 and GTX 1660 or equivalent should be enough to run Half-Life Alyx at a stable 90 fps on Oculus if you have followed the previous steps on this tutorial. Note that the minimum CPU recommendation listed on the store page is much lower than this, which is because you won't need as much CPU power when you are running non-oculus headsets.

If you found this guide helpful, consider rating it. Thank you for reading.

[rockyroad4009]

i had a 600w psu....... now 750w!

[SCHENEV]

The only thing that has helped me 100% is lowering the hz. I had 120hz in my oculus meta 3 and after I lowered it to 72, not only did the picture quality increase, but the lags and game crashes disappeared completely

And, as an additional tip, check the integrity of files HL: Alyx and SteamVR

[Dronser]

Абсолютно все пункты гайда и те,что в комментариях не помогли

[President N U T]

Heres the problem, I have an RTX 4080 Super, and a Ryzen 7 7800X3d at 32 gb of ram, I shouldn't be having audio pops, which is why I was taking a look at that guide in the first place. I play wirelessly through the steam vr app for quest 2, though when I start the game the audio pops like no ones business. Its a custom built pc from the ground up so I am horribly confused as to why this is happening.

[DarrenJames00]

I rub my ram sticks down with chicken blood before I start Steam VR then as I start Half Life Alyx I begin to do a 2 hour Icelandic throat singing in order to put Gabe at ease. Once Gabe is at ease you may start playing the game. EZ PZ

[idiot 3]

https://youtu.be/DZo5bByrync

[9t9]

FOR LAPTOPS with NVIDIA
- Make sure your monitor is connected directly to your graphics card (to bypass NVIDIA Optimus)
- turn off vsync and gsync in control panel
- turn ON low latency mode
- turn off windows HAGS (google it)

If using virtual desktop make sure to launch the game from STEAM not through the virtual desktop games menu.

Once I did this not a single stutter!

[Fudgewaffle]

Worked for me using Steam Link with my Quest 2. One of those processes doesn't exist though since I'm not using the Oculus app. Also, I prefer to use Bill 2's Process Manager (the portable version) for managing priorities. I'll link it below for anyone that wants to try it/has issues with others/doesn't want to have yet another program installed.

https://www.bill2-software.com/processmanager/download-en.shtml

[džemík]

for me this helped to solve every issue with HL alyx

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5157/~/after-updating-to-nvidia-game-ready-driver-461.09-or-newer%2C-some-desktop-apps

press mpo.disable and now HL alyx runs butter smooth ultra settings, no screen tearing



before i have had incredible sttutering even on low setting which does not make any sense since my PC is capable of running game high-ultra

also i have had often screen tearing

have been looking for every possible solution on the internet as well nothing seems to fix it until that link up there, like playing with setting in steam vr app, putting commands before starting the game, all kinds of different setting in game nothing helped

my set is

mobo MSI A320 PRO-VD/S

cpu ryzen 5 3600

gpu 3060 12gb

ram 16gb ram

VR: HTC Vive Cosmos Elite

[50 Cal]

@Genos having the latest and greatest hardware is sometimes bad in older titles that are not made and optimized for new hardware. I run lone echo 1 better on a 2070 mobile than on a 3090. HLA runs great on a 3090 though.