6 Ways to Fix Baldur’s Gate 3 Stuttering and Low FPS on a Windows PC

Some Baldur’s Gate 3 players have reported that BG3 is almost unplayable on their PCs because of stuttering. A player said this on Steam’s forum, “BG3 started lagging and stuttering out of nowhere… the game is now stuttering (audio stutters and video lagging) to a point where it’s actually unplayable.” Such stuttering and lag are usually a result of FPS (frame per second) drops. This is how you can fix Baldur’s Gate 3 stuttering to enhance that game’s gameplay performance on a Windows PC.

Read also: 8 Ways to Fix Baldur’s Gate 3 Not Launching on a Windows PC

Configure Baldur’s Gate 3 In-Game Settings

First, try adjusting the in-game settings in Baldur’s Gate 3. Start the Baldur’s Gate 3 game and press Esc to select Options > Video. Adjust the Video Settings there as follows.

• Display Adapter: Dedicated NVIDIA or AMD GPU (for dual-graphics PC)
• Resolution: Native resolution (1920 x 1080 for HD visual display units)
• Refresh rate: Highest selectable setting
• Display mode: Fullscreen
• V-Sync: Disabled
• Overall Preset: Low
• NVIDIA DLSS: Performance
• AMD FSR: Performance
• Frame Rate Cap: Set at monitor’s refresh rate (for example 160 for 160 Hz)

Graphics settings in Baldur’s Gate 3

Disable Gameplay Stats Tracking

Some players have fixed Baldur’s Gate 3 stuttering by disabling gameplay stats tracking. Doing this stops a background process for stats tracking. This is how you can disable gameplay stats tracking.

1. Open Baldur’s Gate 3 Larian Launcher.
2. Click the cog settings button at the bottom-left corner of the launcher.
3. Unselect the Enable gameplay stats tracking option.
   
   

   The Enable gameplay stats tracking checkbox

4. Click Save Settings to apply.

Skip Larian Launcher

Players confirm that skipping the Larian Launcher can noticeably reduce Baldur’s Gate 3 stuttering. To do this, you need to set Steam to skip the Larian Launcher for starting Baldur’s Gate 3. You can do that by setting a Steam launch parameter like this.

1. Run your Steam software and click Library to view games.
2. Right-click on Elden Ring in the left sidebar and select Properties.
3. Input –skip-launcher in the Launch Options box.
   
   

   The Launch Options in Steam

Select Vulkan for Elden Ring

Selecting the Vulkan API setting is another confirmed way to fix Baldur’s Gate 3 stuttering issue. Players report BG3 gameplay performance to be significantly better with Vulkan selected over DX11. So, try selecting that setting by clicking Vulkan under the Play button in the Baldur’s Gate 3 launcher.

The Vulkan option

Select High Performance Power Plan

I recommend selecting the High performance power plan setting if you’re a desktop PC user. This option sets a higher processor frequency that’s better for gaming purposes. You can select that performance setting in the Control Panel like this.

1. Start Run by simultaneously pressing the Windows logo + R keys on your keyboard.
2. Input a powercfg.cpl Run command select OK.
3. Select the High performance radio button.
   
   

   Power options in the Control Panel

Install a New Graphical Driver

NVIDIA and AMD often release driver updates to optimize gaming performance for new games, and Baldur’s Gate 3 is still quite new. If the current GPU driver on your PC is outdated by many months (years even), installing a new one could feasibly make a noticeable difference in remedying BG 3’s stuttering. These are the steps for installing a new AMD/NVIDIA graphics driver.

1. First, open the DirectX Diagnostic Tool by pressing the Windows logo + S search hotkey, entering dxdiag, and clicking the matching search result. Select the Display tab to see details for your graphics card model.
2. Go to the NVIDIA or AMD driver download page in your web browser software.
3. Select the graphics card model shown on the Display tab and your PC’s platform.
   
   

   The NVIDIA driver download page

4. Click Submit/Search to bring up the page for your graphics card.
5. Click Download for the newest driver compatible with your graphics card and PC platform/architecture.
   
   

   The Download button for a GeForce driver

6. Next, click the taskbar’s File Explorer shortcut and open the folder containing the downloaded graphics driver package.
7. Double-click the file for the AMD or NVIDIA driver to access its installer (setup) window. 
8. Select the installation option for the driver within the installer.
9. Restart Windows 11/10 to complete the update.

Other Possible Ways to Fix Baldur’s Gate 3 Stuttering

There are other ways you can feasibly reduce Baldur’s Gate 3 stuttering on a Windows PC. If noticeable stuttering continues, try applying these extra fixes.

• Select a lower resolution setting in Baldur’s Gate 3.
• Clean boot Windows to free up system resources by disabling third-party startup items (services and apps).
• Set the Baldur’s Gate 3 game to run at a higher priority by right-clicking its process on Task Manager’s Details tab and selecting Set priority > High.
• Turn on the Windows Game Mode setting.
• Select the High performance graphical option for your Baldur’s Gate 3 game via Display > Graphics in Settings.

Many BG3 players have resolved Baldur’s Gate 3 stuttering by applying the potential fixes in this guide. So, those potential resolutions may at least reduce stuttering in Baldur’s Gate 3 to make the game somewhat more playable on your PC. However, there aren’t necessarily any guaranteed ways to completely eliminate BG 3 stuttering because much depends on how much your PC eclipses the game’s minimal system requirements.