I've been encountering significant frame drops and stuttering while playing games that use Easy Anti-Cheat, such as Rust and Fortnite, even when I set my graphics to the lowest options. I'm using an RTX 5080 GPU with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU, running on Windows 11. After exhausting various troubleshooting methods, I ran LatencyMon and discovered that my highest interrupt to process latency hit 206,249 µs, which seems unusually high. I found that the GPU drivers, specifically nvlddmkm.sys (NVIDIA kernel module) and dxgkrnl.sys (DirectX kernel), showed the most execution time. Here's what I've already tried:
- Ensured Windows 11 is fully updated
- Turned off Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling (HAGS)
- Disabled Windowed Game Optimizations
- Disabled Multiplane Overlay via registry
- Modified NVIDIA Control Panel settings to prefer maximum performance
- Turned off G-SYNC and NVIDIA Reflex in-game
- Disabled NVIDIA HD Audio drivers
- Used RTSS just for testing purposes
- Tested various BIOS and CPU settings
- Checked memory stability and storage performance
- Ruled out issues with USB, network, or audio
At this point, I'm considering switching to Linux for a more stable environment, but I realize that these anti-cheat games don't operate on Linux anyway, which is frustrating. Any advice?
3 Answers
Given the detailed troubleshooting you've done, it sounds like you've covered a lot of bases already. Frame stutters in games with anti-cheat systems can sometimes be caused by how they interact with certain hardware or drivers. Have you tried reverting to an older graphics driver? Sometimes the newest drivers can create unexpected issues.
If downgrading Windows is an option you're considering, note that while it can resolve some issues, backing up your files first is crucial. The process doesn't always mean a clean installation, but it's always best to be safe. Just proceed carefully!
Thanks for the heads-up! I’ll definitely back everything up before trying that.
It could also be worth checking if any background processes are interfering during gameplay. Something like a security software could mess with the performance. Also, make sure your system power settings are set to 'High Performance' instead of 'Balanced' or 'Power Saver.'
Good point! I’ll check the power settings and see if there's anything running in the background that I might have missed.
I did think about rolling back the driver. It feels risky, but if it helps, it might be worth it!