For a few weeks, many players have complained about the stutters in VALORANT. Additionally, there have also been frequent crashes and freezes, too. These stutters, crashes, freezes, and other frame-related issues can ruin the FPS experience if not fixed. However, the issue doesn’t seem to be coming from VALORANT or Riot Vanguard.
If you’ve been encountering these issues, we know how you feel. Unfortunately, Riot Games has yet to address this issue. However, there are a few quick and easy solutions that can reduce these stutters and improve the game’s performance significantly. In this article, we will explain what exactly could be causing these stutters in VALORANT and how you can fix them.
How To Fix Stutters & Other Frame-Related Issues In VALORANT?
IMPORTANT: These solutions aren’t for those players that have low-end PCs that do not meet the minimum or recommended system requirements for VALORANT, but for those that have only recently started encountering stutters and other frame-related issues. Please consult the system requirements mentioned below to make sure that your PC is compatible with the game first, before attempting any of the solutions.
VALORANT — System Requirements:
Minimum (30 FPS):
- Operating System: Windows 7
- Processor: Intel Core i3-370M
- RAM: 4 GB
- Video Card: Intel HD 3000
- Storage: 7.6 GB available space
Recommended (60 FPS):
- Operating System: Windows 10
- Processor: Intel Core i3-4150
- RAM: 8 GB
- Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GT 730
- Storage: 7.6 GB available space
Method #1 — Quit Discord:
You’re probably using Discord as your primary voice-chat and communication platform. Discord has become a staple for any multiplayer game, whether FPS or RPG. However, even when not in use, Discord takes a toll on your PC’s performance. As a result, you may face frame-drops and stutters often. The only rational solution would be to simply quit Discord when playing VALORANT to avoid these issues. We noticed a significant boost of around 20-30 FPS on average after quitting Discord when in-game. That’s a LOT!
Method #2 — Disable Game Mode:
If you’re using Windows 10, Game Mode will probably already be enabled on your PC by default. The primary purpose of Game Mode is to optimize the gaming performance of your PC by prioritizing the game over any other background processes. However, it does quite the opposite of what it is intended to do. Instead of improving the performance, it causes micro-stutters, frame-drops, and many other performance issues in games, particularly VALORANT.
- Go to Settings in Windows 10.
- Click on Gaming in the menu.
- Click on Game Mode in the side-bar.
- Toggle Game Mode off.
For further details about Game Mode on Windows 10, read Disable Windows 10 Game Mode To Avoid FPS Loss, Stutters & Game-Freeze.
Method #3 — Disable The Instant-Replay Feature:
The instant-replay feature is ideal when you have to record that insane flick you hit or clutch you just made, but they do take a toll on your PC’s performance. Since the instant-replay feature has to constantly record your desktop, it will impact your GPU’s performance by around 5-10 FPS (maybe more). Hence, if you have a low-end GPU, you may want to disable the instant-replay feature on NVIDIA GeForce Experience or AMD Radeon Software.
Method #4 — Re-install VALORANT:
Chances are, you may have already done this but if the issues still persist, you may want to re-install VALORANT (here). This means to clean-install the game by deleting any cache, save-data or temporary files related to VALORANT or Riot Games. This will remove any corrupt files that could be causing frame-related issues and fix them with the correct files when you re-install the game.
Conclusion:
Hopefully, Riot Games addresses these issues and resolves them. VALORANT’s next patch is due to arrive on 8th June. Until then, you can attempt the solutions above and see if they work for you.
If you have any recommendations for resolutions of this issue, do mention them below and assist others as well. If you have any further queries, comment them below and we will respond to you as soon as we can.