I'm experiencing major stuttering in Fortnite, where my 1% lows drop from over 100 FPS to around 18 FPS, even while just in the lobby. This issue persists across different graphics APIs — DX12 gives the best performance, but I still face stutters every couple of seconds. I've experimented with various settings including V-Sync, FPS caps, and different graphics configurations, yet nothing seems to help. I know it's not my drivers since this problem has been going on for several months through multiple updates. Here are my specs: RTX 5070, Ryzen 7 7700, 32GB DDR5 (I've tested EXPO on and off), and I'm running Windows 11.
2 Answers
It sounds like the issue could be related to shader recompilation loops in DX12. A good fix is to delete the NVIDIA DXCache folder. Just press Windows + R, type `%localappdata%NVIDIADXCache`, and delete everything inside. Just a heads-up, the game might stutter a bit on the first launch while it rebuilds the cache.
You didn't mention what type of storage you're using. If you're playing Fortnite off a hard drive, that could definitely cause stutters as it loads assets while you're moving in-game. Fortnite uses a system where skins stream in rather than preloading all assets. Have you thought about installing all game assets through the launcher to see if that helps?
I tried deleting the DXCache, but it didn’t make any difference. By the way, how much shader cache is considered normal?