Like all Ubisoft title, the Assassin’s Creed series has impressive graphics, but again like most other titles and the recent Watch Dogs Legion, it’s not the best optimized game for PC or for that matter console. With the minimum and recommended specification, the developers expect players to run the game at 30 FPS in 1080p. Only if you meet the high and enthusiast specs can you play the game at 60 FPS, but players who jumped to play the game are complaining of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla stuttering and low FPS even after meeting the system requirements for higher performance.
Nothing out of the ordinary, we at QM Games have come to expect this from Ubisoft Games. But, the quality of the games makes all the hours spend on tweaking a worthwhile effort. In this guide, we will help you reduce stuttering with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Right now, we are running tests, once that’s over tomorrow, we will update the post on how to boost frame rate in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
Fix Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Stuttering And Low FPS
Here are all the solutions you can try to resolve the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Stuttering And Low FPS.
Terminate Unnecessary Applications
With so many games, third-party software that forcefully inject themselves between operations cause crash in the game. Hence, the first thing we must do to resolve the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla stuttering and FPS drop is suspend all unnecessary programs and then launch the game. Here are the steps you can follow.
- Press Windows Key + R and type msconfig, hit Enter
- In General tab, uncheck Load startup items
- Go to the Services tab
- Check Hide all Microsoft services
- Now, click Disable all
- Click on Apply and OK.
Try launching the game, check if the error still occurs.
Enable/Disable Fullscreen Mode
Running the game after enabling the in-game fullscreen mode seems to fix a lot of stuttering problem in the game. Users who ran the game on Windowed mode encountered lag and stuttering problem. So, head over to the Settings and enable the fullscreen mode. If you are already running the game on fullscreen, try changing to windowed that can potentially reduce stutter with the game.
Disable Fullscreen Optimization and Run as Admin
We have seen that disabling the fullscreen optimization from the game’s properties also helps reduce stuttering in games. Here are the steps you need to follow.
- Right Click on ACValhalla.exe at the install directory or the game’s shortcut.
- Select Properties and go to the Compatibility tab.
- Uncheck Disable Fullscreen Optimization and check Run this program as an administrator.
- Click Apply and Ok.
Update the Graphics Card
It’s a gamer’s modus operandi to keep the graphics card and all the other software on the system updated. The graphics card in particular is important because it directly impacts your game performance. Nvidia and AMD both release updates for their driver fairly regularly. Go to the official website of your graphics card manufacturer and check if a new driver is available or use GeForce Experience to check for the driver. Download and install the new drivers. If the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla stuttering and FPS drop started after a driver update, consider rolling back.
Find the Ideal Graphics Settings
If you are playing the game on high system specifications, it’s most likely to crash, stutter, drop FPS, and lag. As such, you should set the graphics settings from the in-game graphics settings to the lowest and increase the settings by one until the game stops to stutter. When the stuttering start to occurs, the previous settings is the best for your system. Here are some recommendation you can try from the game’s graphics settings.
- If you are running on Fullscreen mode, change to Borderless
- If the game is already on Borderless, change to Fullscreen
- Turn off Vsync
- Set Shadows to Low
- Environment Details to Low or Medium
- Texture Details to Low or Medium
- Turn Off Screen Space Reflections
- Set Volumetric Clouds to Low
Other Fixes for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Stuttering & FPS Drop
Here are the other fixes we recommend.
Change Nvidia Settings
In the next step to fix Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Stuttering, FPS Drop, and Performance Issues, we will set the Nvidia for performance. Here are the steps.
- Right-click on Desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel
- Expand 3D Settings and click on Adjust image settings with preview
- Check Use my preference emphasizing: Quality (for users who have a powerful PC, you can allow the app to decide and select Let the 3D application decide)
- Drag the bar to Performance (there are three options Performance – Balanced – Quality)
- Click on Apply to implement the changes
- Next, go to the Manage 3D settings under 3D Settings
- Click on Program Settings and select Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (if the game is not in the drop-down list, click Add, browse and add the game)
- Under 2. Select the preferred graphics processor for this program: choose High-performance NVIDIA processor
- Under 3. Specify the settings for this program, set Power management mode to Prefer maximum performance and Virtual Reality pre-rendered frames to 1.
Alter the Power Options in Window 10
For users who do not have an effective CPU cooler, you may want to skip this step as it would increase the CPU temperature by a few degrees. Without proper cooling, it may harm your system. Here are the steps to follow.
- Click on the battery icon in the System Tray and drag the button to Best Performance
- Right-click on the battery icon and select Power Options
- Click on the Change plan settings link
- Click on Change advanced power settings
- Locate Processor power management and click on the plus sign to expand
- Expand Minimum processor state and set it to 100%, next expand Maximum processor state and set it to 100%
- Click on Apply and OK to save the changes.
Configure Game Settings from the Registry
This fix will not just resolve your Assassin’s Creed Valhalla FPS drop, lag, and stuttering, but with all other games and applications. However, before you proceed do take a backup of the registry. Here are the steps:
- Type Regedit in the Windows Search tab and select Run as administrator
- Click on Files > Export. Name the backup and save it at your desired location
- Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER > System > GameConfigStore
- From the right panel, double-click on GameDVR_Enabled
- Set the Value data to 0, Base as Hexadecimal and click OK
- Next, double-click on GameDVR_FSEBehaviorMode
- Set the Value data as 2 and Base as Hexadecimal and click OK
- Go back and expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > Software > Microsoft > PolicyManager > default > ApplicationManagement > AllowGameDVR
- From the right panel, double-click on value
- Delete 1 and set it to 0, click Ok and restart your computer.
Set Windows for Best Performance
In the Windows search tab, type performance and select Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows. Check Adjust for best performance. Click Apply and OK. Check if the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla stutter and lag still occur.
Delete Temporary Files from Windows
Again, this is another general step to speed up the system and ultimately fix the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla FPS drop, stuttering, and other performance problems. Here are the steps you can follow to clear the temporary files on PC.
- Open the Run dialogue box by pressing on Windows Key + R
- Type %temp% in the field and hit Enter
- Press Ctrl + A and hit Delete (if you cannot delete some files, let them be and close the Window)
- Again, press Windows Key + R and type temp, hit Enter
- When prompted provide the permission. Delete everything in this folder as well.
- Again, press Windows Key + R and type prefetch, hit Enter
- Press Ctrl + A to select everything and hit the Delete key (skip files that do not delete)
After you are done with the above three processes, empty the Recycle Bin.
How to Fix Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Stutter and Lag on PS4 and Xbox One
Unlike PC players, users on PlayStation and Xbox do not have the option to boost FPS, the performance of the game is optimized by the developers and the FPS is locked. So naturally, if you are playing on an old console, the low FPS may be causing the stutter. You best option is to wait for a patch from the developers to resolve the stuttering. A quick tip to avoid such problems with the game is to avoid scenes that are visually demanding such as a crowded marketplace.
You can also change the PS4 Video Output Settings to 1080p, disable the Supersampling Mode, and disable face recognition. These few tweaks can improve the performance of the game and boost FPS.
Hopefully, the above solutions have resolved the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Stutter, Lag, and low FPS on PC, Xbox One, and PS4.
Don’t run your game as Admin, that’s just poor practices and leaves you wide open for hacking especially with online multiplayer or live services games ….. Games should never need Elevated Privileges if they are programmed correctly ….. It’s a valid step in troubleshooting but if it doesn’t help or do anything then turn it back off …… If absolutely need to do it to get the game to run then turn it back off after a patch and chances are the game will run just fine …. I don’t have a single game on my computer with elevated privileges and only one time in the last 5 or 6 years did it actually work and as soon as the game was patched I turned it back off.