Fix Fortnite & Other Games Stuttering And Crashing
Fix Fortnite & Other Games Stuttering And Crashing
If your PC is suffering from stuttering, freezing or crashing in Fortnite or other games, this guide walks you through 10 proven fixes plus final last resort steps to help you find and resolve the issue properly.
Watch The Video Guide
Guide Time
Around 40 minutes
Difficulty
Medium
Best For
Fortnite, Warzone, EA FC and other PC games
Before You Upgrade Your PC
Stuttering, freezing and crashing are not always caused by weak hardware. A lot of gaming issues are caused by settings, drivers, corrupted game files, unstable software or background apps. Follow the steps in order and test your system as you go.
What This Guide Covers
- How to check Windows Event Viewer for crash clues
- How to update graphics drivers properly
- How to stress test your CPU, GPU and power stability using OCCT
- How to verify and repair game files
- How to disable overlays that can cause problems
- How to reduce background app usage
- How to match FPS settings to your monitor refresh rate
- How to enable Fortnite Performance Mode
- How to adjust NVIDIA Shader Cache settings
- How to clear old shader cache files in Windows
- What to try as a final last resort
Useful Downloads
These tools are mentioned in the video. Only download tools from trusted sources.
Video Chapters
Introduction
Tip 1: Check Windows Event Viewer
Tip 2: Update Graphics Drivers With A Clean Install
Tip 3: OCCT Stress Testing
Tip 4: Verify Game Files
Tip 5: Disable Overlays
Tip 6: Close Background Apps
Tip 7: Match FPS To Monitor Refresh Rate
Tip 8: Enable Performance Mode In Fortnite
Tip 9: NVIDIA Shader Cache Settings
Tip 10: Clear Shader Cache In Windows
Final Last Gasp Fixes
Step By Step Fixes
Tip 1: Check Windows Event Viewer
Start by checking Windows Event Viewer for critical errors, repeated crashes, Kernel Power events or other clues. This can help show whether the issue is linked to Windows, drivers, power loss, software or hardware instability.
Tip 2: Update Your Graphics Drivers Properly
Update your graphics drivers from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel. If you are already having crashes, choose a clean install where possible rather than just installing over the top of the old driver.
Tip 3: Stress Test With OCCT
Use OCCT to test CPU, GPU and power stability. If your PC crashes during these tests, the issue may be hardware stability rather than Fortnite or the game itself.
Keep an eye on temperatures while testing. If temperatures climb too high or the system becomes unstable, stop the test and investigate cooling, power or hardware issues.
Tip 4: Verify Game Files
Corrupted or missing files can happen after game updates. Open your game launcher and use the verify or repair option to check the installation.
Tip 5: Disable Overlays
Turn off overlays such as Discord overlay, Xbox Game Bar and NVIDIA overlay. These can sometimes cause crashes, instability, input delay or stuttering in games.
Tip 6: Close Background Apps
Close apps you do not need while gaming, such as Chrome, Spotify, extra launchers, cloud sync tools and recording software. This can free up RAM, CPU usage and background disk activity.
Tip 7: Match FPS To Your Monitor Refresh Rate
Set your FPS limit close to your monitor refresh rate. For example, if you use a 144Hz monitor, try capping your FPS close to 144 rather than letting the game run completely uncapped.
Tip 8: Enable Performance Mode In Fortnite
Fortnite Performance Mode can help improve stability and smoothness, especially on lower spec or mid range gaming PCs. It can reduce visual load and help the game run more consistently.
Tip 9: Change NVIDIA Shader Cache Settings
If you are using an NVIDIA graphics card, open NVIDIA Control Panel and set Shader Cache Size to Unlimited. This can help reduce shader related stutters in some games.
Tip 10: Clear Shader Cache In Windows
Old shader cache files can sometimes cause persistent stuttering after game updates or driver changes. Clearing the shader cache in Windows can force the system to rebuild fresh files.
Honorary Tip: Try Disabling XMP
If you are still getting random crashes, try disabling XMP or EXPO in your BIOS and test again. Unstable RAM settings can look like game crashes, even when the game itself is not the problem.
Final Last Resort Fixes
Only move on to these steps once you have tried the main fixes above and tested your system properly.
- Use DDU to fully clean install your graphics drivers
- Completely uninstall and reinstall the game
- Try disabling XMP or EXPO in BIOS and test stability
- As a final option, back up your files and perform a fresh Windows install
Important To Know
If your PC passes CPU, GPU and power stress tests without crashing, that usually points away from a major hardware fault and more towards software, drivers, game files, settings or background app issues.
If the PC crashes during stress testing, the issue is more likely to be system stability, cooling, power, RAM, GPU, CPU or another hardware related problem that needs further checking.
Still Need Help?
If you bought your PC from Pink Parsnip Computers and you are still having crashing, freezing or stuttering after following the guide, please contact us with your PC specs, the game affected and what steps you have already tried.
Contact Pink Parsnip Support