The Witcher 3 Stuttering on Laptop

[XTrior]

Hey so Ive been experiencing these random stutters and freezes in my game. My laptop specs are well above the recommended specs for the game, they are as follow:

GTX 1070 8gb
Core i7 7700HQ
16 gb RAM
Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
512 SSD and 1TB HDD (Tried installing the game on both but no change)

Ive tried almost everything but it still doesnt help make the game better. All my features are up to date so if anyone here can guide me into solving this issue itll be much appreciated because I know with my laptop specs I should be able to handle the game no problem.

 

[Mekc]

Freezes happen and the game goes on? Or it crashes?

 

[devivre]

Using any mods?

Does your laptop have an integrated gpu too (those can cause problems if the game tries to access it instead of the nvidia card)? Or is it just the Nvidia card?

I‘d recommend checking out these suggestions too:

The game is not launching — The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | Technical Support — CD PROJEKT RED

Welcome to CD PROJEKT RED Technical Support! Here you will find help regarding our games and services, as well as answers to frequently asked questions.

support.cdprojektred.com

My game crashes — The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | Technical Support — CD PROJEKT RED

Welcome to CD PROJEKT RED Technical Support! Here you will find help regarding our games and services, as well as answers to frequently asked questions.

support.cdprojektred.com

 

[SigilFey]

...random stutters and freezes in my game.

Can you explain a bit more about these freezes and stutters?

1.) Are they quick hitching, like microstutter? Or is it a big freeze that lasts several seconds?
2.) Is it constant and regular, or does it come in fits at random times?
3.) Is it happening constantly, or only in certain areas?
4.) Is your framerate affected? (Use something like RTSS or Fraps to be sure. Frame-timing issues may show rock-steady FPS even though the game stutters like crazy.)

One thing to ensure is that you are playing the game only while plugged in and that all of your power settings (Windows and Nvidia Control Panel) are set to "Maximum Performance". You might also check that the game is utilizing your 1070 and not the onboard video. You can force the game to use it through the CUDA settings in Nvidia CP.

Let us know how it goes!

 

[XTrior]

Freezes happen and the game goes on? Or it crashes?

Its these short random freezes that last for like 1-2 seconds and then the game goes back to normal at my normal fps (at about 60)

Post automatically merged: Jan 12, 2020

Can you explain a bit more about these freezes and stutters?

1.) Are they quick hitching, like microstutter? Or is it a big freeze that lasts several seconds?
2.) Is it constant and regular, or does it come in fits at random times?
3.) Is it happening constantly, or only in certain areas?
4.) Is your framerate affected? (Use something like RTSS or Fraps to be sure. Frame-timing issues may show rock-steady FPS even though the game stutters like crazy.)

One thing to ensure is that you are playing the game only while plugged in and that all of your power settings (Windows and Nvidia Control Panel) are set to "Maximum Performance". You might also check that the game is utilizing your 1070 and not the onboard video. You can force the game to use it through the CUDA settings in Nvidia CP.

Let us know how it goes!

Its random freezes that sometimes last for like 1-2 seconds and sometimes for a millisecond and then my fps goes back to normal which is always around 60. It doesnt happen constantly but it sometimes happens in certain areas (like the road leading to Novigard from the windmill) but sometimes it doesnt happen in those areas and it just moves to other random areas. Ive tried EVERYTHING I could find on the internet to solve this issue even the things you recommended but no change. I looked on youtube about the game being played on the same specs as I have and they dont have any stutter with all setting maxed out. The rest of my games work great like GTA gets 60 fps almost all the time with 0 zero stutters at all settings maxed. I really need some help here, im completely out of ideas.

Post automatically merged: Jan 12, 2020

Using any mods?

Does your laptop have an integrated gpu too (those can cause problems if the game tries to access it instead of the nvidia card)? Or is it just the Nvidia card?

I‘d recommend checking out these suggestions too:

The game is not launching — The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | Technical Support — CD PROJEKT RED

Welcome to CD PROJEKT RED Technical Support! Here you will find help regarding our games and services, as well as answers to frequently asked questions.

support.cdprojektred.com

My game crashes — The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | Technical Support — CD PROJEKT RED

Welcome to CD PROJEKT RED Technical Support! Here you will find help regarding our games and services, as well as answers to frequently asked questions.

support.cdprojektred.com

No mods and how do I check if it has an integrated gpu?

 

[devivre]

No mods and how do I check if it has an integrated gpu?

The Windows device manager for example shows it.

NVIDIA Support

nvidia.custhelp.com

 

[SigilFey]

After dealing with much the same myself, I eventually sorted it by setting Vsync on in-game, Fullscreen, and going into user.settings and changing LimitFPS=48. Using any other config, the game stutters terribly. With the above settings, the FPS are absolutely solid, no hitches, stutters, or frame jitters anywhere.

I'm pretty convinced it's CPU related. This type of issue seems to occur on 4+ core CPUs. The above is the only thing that worked for me. Your mileage may vary. Also try manual values of 50, 52, 54, 58 etc. Whenever I hit the issue, one of these normally sorts it for whatever game I'm running.

 

[XTrior]

After dealing with much the same myself, I eventually sorted it by setting Vsync on in-game, Fullscreen, and going into user.settings and changing LimitFPS=48. Using any other config, the game stutters terribly. With the above settings, the FPS are absolutely solid, no hitches, stutters, or frame jitters anywhere.

I'm pretty convinced it's CPU related. This type of issue seems to occur on 4+ core CPUs. The above is the only thing that worked for me. Your mileage may vary. Also try manual values of 50, 52, 54, 58 etc. Whenever I hit the issue, one of these normally sorts it for whatever game I'm running.

I actually tried the exact same thing but it had no effect on my game. Im just completely out of ideas dude.

 

[devivre]

If it's the steam version, maybe try disabling the overlay feature and the cloud save feature (if it's enabled). Both features sometimes interfere with the performance. As mentioned in one of the links I mentioned, it's good to close all non-essential background applications, especially those with overlay (like GeForce Experience, Riva Tuner, Fraps, MSI Afterburner...).

What resolution are you playing the game with?

 

[XTrior]

If it's the steam version, maybe try disabling the overlay feature and the cloud save feature (if it's enabled). Both features sometimes interfere with the performance. As mentioned in one of the links I mentioned, it's good to close all non-essential background applications, especially those with overlay (like GeForce Experience, Riva Tuner, Fraps, MSI Afterburner...).

What resolution are you playing the game with?

All overlays are off. Im playing at 1080p on my 17 inch 120hz laptop screen (tried switching to 60hz and turning gsync on and off, no change :/ )

 

[devivre]

Strange. Hm, rolling back to an older gpu driver version is always worth a shot. For example, Nvidia v399 and older...

 

[XTrior]

Strange. Hm, rolling back to an older gpu driver version is always worth a shot. For example, Nvidia v399 and older...

Will that really help? I want to be sure before I actually downgrade the drivers cuz this is ridiculous I mean my specs are more than enough to play this game without an issue but why is all this freezing and stuttering happening to me? I also saw videos on youtube of people with the same specs as mine and they play the game without any issue, just doesnt make sense to me.

 

[devivre]

I don‘t know if it will help. Older nvidia drivers simply tend to work better with the TW3 and new drivers are not always that great for older games.

Alternatively, you can always reach out to CDPR support. Just click on one of the links I mentioned before and then click on „Contact us“ to send a ticket to support.

 

[SigilFey]

Another line to investigate is Windows / Security / Anti-Virus interference.

1.) Ensure the game is not installed anywhere under Program Files or Program Files(x86). Protected directories can cause issues. Always install to the root of the drive or in a folder of your own creation on the root. (You definitely want to use the SSD for TW3, too. Load times of ~10 seconds.)

2.) Ensure Permissions have been set to "Everyone" in both the main game installation folder and the ...\Documents\The Witcher 3\... folder. Be sure witcher3.exe is set to "Run as administrator".

3.) Install / repair Microsoft Redistributables:
DirectX 11 / 12 (whichever you use)
DirectX9.0c
Visual Studio and Visual C++ (ensuring you install both the x86 and x64 packages for each version. Install each version -- Studio first, followed by C++ -- in order by year. I recommend going back to at least 2013.)
.NET Framework
XNA Framework

4.) Add the game's installation directory to the exceptions list of any anti-virus or firewall software you may be using.

That should rule out anything getting in TW3's face and trying to take the focus away during gameplay. Personally, however, I think you have a similar situation to my own. Something in the way the CPU, GPU, and Windows communicates simply musses the frame-timing. You may simply have to fiddle until you find your system's sweet spot.

 

[XTrior]

Strange. Hm, rolling back to an older gpu driver version is always worth a shot. For example, Nvidia v399 and older...

I went to the nvidia site and the earliest driver I could find for my GPU (GTX 1070 8 gb notebook) is v419.17
Should I downgrade to that?

 

[devivre]

The best version would probably be this one

GeForce Game Ready Driver | 399.24 | Windows 10 64-bit | NVIDIA

Download the English (US) GeForce Game Ready Driver for Windows 10 64-bit systems. Released 2018.9.10

www.nvidia.com

But you can try the other one too. Might be too new though.

 

[SigilFey]

I went to the nvidia site and the earliest driver I could find for my GPU (GTX 1070 8 gb notebook) is v419.17
Should I downgrade to that?

Just search for "nvidia archived drivers". If you know which version you're looking for, include that as well. I've had really good experience with v385.69 on my GTX 980 ti. Wouldn't recommend the most current, v441.87. Installed this past weekend and immediately hit a few problems.

(EDIT: Heh...@devivre...when ninjas collide...)

 

[XTrior]

Just search for "nvidia archived drivers". If you know which version you're looking for, include that as well. I've had really good experience with v385.69 on my GTX 980 ti. Wouldn't recommend the most current, v441.87. Installed this past weekend and immediately hit a few problems.

(EDIT: Heh...@devivre...when ninjas collide...)

I tried downgrading to so many version but nothing helps dude. Its really weird, none of my other games are affected just this one. What am I doing wrong? I did notice that the freeze happens whenever im entering a new area or whenever im about to strike an enemy with my sword its been plaguing me for so long now. I just wish I could find someone with the same specs as mine and literally copy their settings.

 

[SigilFey]

I tried downgrading to so many version but nothing helps dude. Its really weird, none of my other games are affected just this one. What am I doing wrong? I did notice that the freeze happens whenever im entering a new area or whenever im about to strike an enemy with my sword its been plaguing me for so long now. I just wish I could find someone with the same specs as mine and literally copy their settings.

Copy-pasting others settings, even if their hardware is identical, is not guaranteed to work, either. Every system develops a unique config over time. Some are just not going to cooperate with the odd title. And it's totally normal for "only one game" to be having an issue on your machine. It's not "only one"...you just haven't encountered the other games that are going to have issues yet.

I've never been able to get around my issues without limiting my FPS to about half of what my system is capable of. Witcher 3, Fallout 4, and Warhammer: Total War are the only games I own that had performance issues I just could not sort out simply, and that's from when I built it in 2015 until today.

For this issue, it looks like your machine has issued a challenge.

Tell me a bit more about the details.
What do you run for security (anti-virus, anti-malware, firewall, etc.)?
Where do you install games?
What's running in the background?
Is this a new Win 10 installation, or did you upgrade from a prior version (Win 8.1, Win 7, etc.)?
Any overclocking?

 

[XTrior]

Copy-pasting others settings, even if their hardware is identical, is not guaranteed to work, either. Every system develops a unique config over time. Some are just not going to cooperate with the odd title. And it's totally normal for "only one game" to be having an issue on your machine. It's not "only one"...you just haven't encountered the other games that are going to have issues yet.

I've never been able to get around my issues without limiting my FPS to about half of what my system is capable of. Witcher 3, Fallout 4, and Warhammer: Total War are the only games I own that had performance issues I just could not sort out simply, and that's from when I built it in 2015 until today.

For this issue, it looks like your machine has issued a challenge.

Tell me a bit more about the details.
What do you run for security (anti-virus, anti-malware, firewall, etc.)?
Where do you install games?
What's running in the background?
Is this a new Win 10 installation, or did you upgrade from a prior version (Win 8.1, Win 7, etc.)?
Any overclocking?

I tried limiting the fps in the ini file as well in game to 30 and the freeze still happens no matter what value I choose.
I dont have any anti-virus software installed
Ive installed The Witcher on both my SSD and HDD, no change in performance (Currently all my game are on HDD)
Nothing runs in the background, I make sure to shut down all apps and I also turn off my laptop wifi
No overclocking on anything.

I wanted to ask you, when you set the framelimiter to 48, do you have a 100 percent smooth gameplay? Like not even a little stutter such as when the game autosaves or when entering a new area? The reason im asking is because I want to know maybe im too sensitive to the stutter and I wanna know if it happens on all systems.