Why does the game freeze? Why do games slow down (even on a powerful computer)? Eliminate lags and brakes

Yes, there is such an unpleasant situation when games on the computer are slowed down by precisely such frame delays. You're playing a shooter, shooting monsters, and then you're stuck for a couple of seconds or more!!! It's so annoying!

But this problem has long been known and can be solved! The fact is that when playing new modern 3D shooters, a lot of RAM is consumed.

When a game or any other application does not have enough RAM, it begins to create a paging file on the hard drive. This is a file containing the necessary operational information of the application, which is used in real time, right now. The place of such information in RAM!!!

And if it is not enough, then a swap file is created. And once the read/write speed hard drive thousand times less, then the game frames are delayed by seconds. The hard drive does not have time to transfer information as quickly as it does RAM!

This problem is solved by simply adding RAM! You just need to buy a memory strip and insert it into the system unit!

For modern needs of programs and games you need at least 1.5 Gigabytes of memory. Preferably 2 GB or more.

Why do games slow down?

There are many reasons why games start to slow down. For convenience, we divide them into two groups:

1. Hardware.
2. Software.

Hardware reasons

1. System requirements. Most often, games lag on outdated or low-power computers. Therefore, first of all, compare the characteristics of your PC with the minimum system requirements of the game. You can find out these requirements by typing its name in a search engine. Surely, this information will be found on one of the sites.

If your computer does not meet the minimum requirements, then the game is unlikely to run correctly. If it passes even according to the recommended characteristics, but the game freezes, you should set the settings to minimum.

2. Throttling. The process of reducing the performance of a computer's video card to reduce its temperature due to overheating is called throttling. It is he who saves the video card from failure if its power is insufficient.

The inhibition associated with this factor appears some time after starting the game. At first everything works well, but then (during heavy scenes, for example) lags appear.

This can happen even on powerful video cards. You can monitor the temperature by applying a load. You can monitor the temperature using TechPowerUp GPU:

The optimal idle temperature is considered to be heating up to 45 degrees C, and under load up to 70-80 degrees. If heating exceeds these figures, you should clean the video card from dust and check/replace the cooling system. You can remove dust using a regular vacuum cleaner.

Laptop cooling can be purchased at a specialty store or ordered online.

3. Lack of resources. Open Task Manager and go to the Performance tab. Look at how much the processor is loaded and how much physical memory consumed during idle and under load (when the game is running). Ideally, these figures should not exceed the threshold of 70-80% of the total amount.


Now go to the “Processes” tab and disable all unnecessary and unused ones in this moment applications.

Software reasons

1. Clutter. Many of us have various types of junk accumulated on our hard drive: unnecessary files, browser browsing history. IN large quantities it affects the performance of the system as a whole. This, accordingly, also affects the operation of games. Therefore, clean your computer of debris.

In addition, disable various widgets and gadgets. And, as written above, shut down unused processes.

2. Fragmentation. When downloaded to a computer, files are placed on the hard drive in different parts of it, separately. When reading them, the read head has to move from one “piece” to another. This is not noticeable to the user, but fragmentation is reflected in the speed of the system.

To correct the situation, defragment the disk. To do this, open “My Computer”, click right click mouse on the logical drive and select "Properties". Next, go to the “Service” tab - “Perform defragmentation...”.

– launching programs when the system boots (when the computer is turned on). Disable startup programs that you do not use. This can be done by opening “Start” - “Run” by entering the “msconfig” command or by resorting to the help of a third-party software. Restart your computer.


4. Drivers. Over time, drivers become outdated, and it happens that they are installed incorrectly. Check that they are installed correctly. To do this, go to “Control Panel” - “Device Manager”. If there is an exclamation mark next to the device icon, it means you need to reinstall the drivers.

Some drivers, if updates are released, may prompt you to download and install them automatically. Others do not have this feature. To update them, go to the developer’s website and download the latest version suitable for the configuration.

Other reasons

A large number of users do not buy the game, but download a pirated copy from the Internet. If you have a pirated copy installed, then it is likely that this is the reason. As you know, not all people are the owners of straight hands. Therefore, the whole problem may be in a crooked repack of the game. In this case, in addition to freezing, you can observe (optionally) various bugs, errors, the toy will fly out, collapse. Installing a licensed copy will help here.

Another situation is the incompatibility of the game with your operating system. Even if your OS meets the necessary requirements, it itself may not be fully functional and stable. This applies to those who have a hacked (unlicensed) version of the system installed. But this problem is not very common and affects not only a single game, but all software.

There are programs that allow you to speed up games by disabling unnecessary processes and services while the game is running. The most popular of free utilities is Game Assistant 2. Install it and use it every time you enter the game.

Laptop games slow down

Laptops and netbooks are a separate case. For them, there are several other factors affecting the speed of work.

First, you should switch the power mode/plan to the most productive one. It will consume more battery power, but there is no way around it.

It should be remembered that a laptop is not intended for gaming and, with identical characteristics, is inferior in performance to a desktop computer.

I repeat. Buy a special cooling for your laptop. It will reduce the risk
overheating

Online games slow down

If you are slowing down Online Games, then in addition to the above reasons, the following can be identified.

1. Your Internet connection speed is low or there is a problem with the network channel. Check the Internet speed in services like 2ip. Completely stop all downloads while checking. If the speed is lower than stated in tariff plan, contact your provider to find out the reasons.

2. The problem is on the server side. There are such cases, but the administration of the project (game) usually informs the players about them. It is not possible for us to eliminate them on our own.

I hope this article helped you get rid of game lag. Write any questions you have in the comments.

What to do if the game is slow? Games can slow down in different cases: on an old computer, on a powerful laptop, the graphics may slow down or other unpleasant glitches may periodically occur. Regardless of the type of computer, both downloaded and online and flash games can slow down. In any situation, our specialist will be able to solve the problem with glitches in games so that you can spend your free time comfortably.

There are many factors that affect the performance of a computer during games. Regarding the system part, which may require an upgrade, the quality of games is most strongly influenced by RAM and video card. This is not surprising, because these are the components that take the most active part during games.

You can try to solve this problem yourself, but if you do not have the skills, then it is better to entrust the solution to professionals.

What is the main problem?

If games on your computer start to glitch, most likely the problem is unlikely to lie in the processor and motherboard. These components are almost never taken into account when considering problems with games, because the participation of the processor and motherboard in games is minimal. Processor frequency plays a role, as a rule, in so-called “computing” applications, for example, converting video materials. Experts very rarely consider the motherboard to be the cause of computer slowdowns and glitches. If games on a laptop are slow, then most likely this has nothing to do with the operation of the motherboard. Therefore, you are unlikely to need to modernize or upgrade these components.

But it’s worth talking about RAM and video card in more detail. After all, it is these components that take the most active part in the use of modern graphic games. As a rule, a game on a computer may glitch due to a lack of RAM, which is actively used at this time. Most modern games require a huge amount of memory. If there is not enough memory, the system transfers some programs to HDD. If part of the “game” system information is located on the hard drive, games begin to slow down even at powerful computer. At such moments, the game takes a long time to load, you can observe lengthy transitions between levels, freezing for several seconds. All this indicates that games are slowing down due to lack of RAM.

This can happen on Vist, and on Windows XP, and 7. The video card also plays an important role: it is the one that provides the image. And in modern games this is not the last thing.

Some games are not compatible with certain types of video cards. In any case, all the problems described are solvable. Our specialists will upgrade the relevant components of your computer or laptop. Play for your health!

Typical question from a user...

Hello. One game on my computer is slow (Diablo III). I tried a bunch of things, but nothing helps... The computer exceeds the minimum game specifications stated by the manufacturer several times. I reduced the graphics and performance settings in the game to a minimum - I got ~10 FPS... Tell me why the game can slow down even on a relatively powerful PC?

Good afternoon everyone!

There is probably not a single PC user who does not play computer games! And most of them encountered brakes, lags, delays, and other incidents. So the question presented in the article is a very popular one (perhaps only the name of the game is changing).

In this article, I will look at the main reasons why games slow down and give tips on how to eliminate and fix them. I do not claim to be the ultimate truth. So...

IMPORTANT! First of all, pay attention to the system requirements of the specific game that is slowing you down. If your computer/laptop does not meet its minimum requirements (and there are also recommended ones), then the reason for the brakes is obvious (that’s why in this article on system requirements I don't stop). True, in this case, something can be done to speed up the game (more on that below)...

Eliminate lags and slowdowns in games

I will structure the article in the form of questions, to each of which I will give an answer. By going through them and checking your PC, optimizing it, you will in any case get some (at least small) increase in performance.

What programs are loaded on the processor, hard drive, RAM and network?

The very first thing I want to start with is checking what your processor, hard drive, and RAM are loaded with. The fact is that even on a powerful computer, brakes can appear if, in addition to the game itself, another dozen or two different programs are running on it (not to mention various conflicts).

The easiest way to find out about their loading is to use task manager . To open it, press the buttons Ctrl+Shift+Esc(or Ctrl+Alt+Del). By the way, it is highly advisable to first open the task manager, then launch the game, and when it starts to slow down, minimize it and see where the main load is going.

Note: To minimize the game, press the button combination Alt+Tab, or button Win.

In the task manager, first pay attention to what is most loaded: CPU, memory, disk or network. In my case - the CPU was loaded (note: the processor, by the way, is usually loaded more often than memory or disk) .

Pay attention to what is busy on the CPU - not the Civilization IV game, but the browser (with fifty tabs open). No wonder the computer started to slow down when starting the game...


After the browser was closed, the game began to function normally, not a single lag or freeze. Here is the recipe for recovery 😎...

Also pay attention to HDD : often torrents (so popular lately) can put a heavy load on it.

Note: Many programs that you have already closed may remain in memory and load your PC. That is why, in cases where problems occur in games, it is advisable to always check if there is anything extraneous that is heavily loading the PC.

Therefore, to summarize, I will say the following: first of all, check to see if there are any third-party programs running that are taking up the lion’s share of PC resources instead of the desired game. Having made sure that the load is created directly by the game itself, you can move on...

Do you know about problematic graphics in some games: fire, water, shadows, etc.?
Very often, the reason for the brakes lies in the game itself - for example, often the developers did not optimize the graphics, say, for a certain line of video cards. As a result, for most users everything works as it should, but for some users the game is simply unrecognizable: everything lags, slows down, the picture twitches and is distorted.

It is quite difficult to name for each game where and what problems it has (much more can be said about this on some forum dedicated to a specific game). As for Diablo III (and some other games) - in the first releases the game had a problem with NVIDIA video cards due to the parameter enabled in the driver settings AMBIENT OCLUSION(Background lighting shading). When I turned it off in the graphics settings, the game started to fly!


Pay attention to these elements like: fire, water, shadows, fog, dust, etc. If there is an option in the game to disable them (or reduce their detail) - try it. In some cases, games begin to behave completely differently.

Have you used any utilities to speed up games?

No matter what anyone says about “magic buttons”, that they don’t exist, etc. - there are still utilities that can speed up your computer in a few steps, and as a result, reduce the number of errors and lags in games.

I won’t talk about them in detail here, as it will require quite a lot of space and time (especially since there is already such an article on the blog).

The best utilities and programs to speed up games -

Are your video drivers updated? Is there any conflict, are they optimal?

Video drivers have a very serious and significant impact on gaming performance. For some video cards, choosing the optimal driver is not always easy: the newest driver may not be optimized, it may have errors, it may not work correctly with certain types of textures (but, as a rule, in new drivers, on the contrary, the number of errors tends to a minimum).

I'll give you one piece of advice: try downloading several versions of drivers for your video card. Then install one by one and check how the game works with one or another. Perhaps by installing another driver the error will disappear...

How to find and install a driver for an unknown device -

Updating Drivers in Windows 10 - 5 Review best programs(in Russian) -

In addition, I also recommend going to device Manager and check whether there is a driver conflict, whether drivers have been found and installed for all equipment (if there are any yellow exclamation marks. An example of what a problematic driver looks like in the device manager is).

To open device Manager : Press a combination of buttons Win+R and enter devmgmt.msc(example below).


Pay attention to the "Video adapters" and "Unknown devices"- are there any devices with yellow exclamation marks(or just unknown devices ).


If there are any, you need to find drivers for them and install them. Then restart your PC and check how gaming performance changes.

Are your video drivers set for maximum performance?

I think it’s no secret that video driver settings greatly influence game performance. Sometimes, by changing some parameters, you can increase the game by 1.5 (or more) times!

How to speed up AMD video card(Radeon) -

How to improve NVIDIA graphics card performance in games -

How to speed up an IntelHD video card, increase performance by at least 10-15% -

Does the game have low graphics settings: resolution, details, shadows, etc.?

In addition to the video card settings, there are also settings for the game itself. By the way, their influence is no less than the video card settings (and maybe more!).

Absolutely every game (99.9%) has graphics settings. When you enter them, pay attention (first of all) to the following things:

  1. screen resolution: has a strong impact on the quality of the picture in the game, and on the loading of your video card. By lowering the resolution a little, you can significantly increase the performance of your PC in the game. By the way, I’ll add on my own behalf that in many games the decrease in resolution will be barely noticeable, while the performance will increase significantly! So, you always need to find a balance;
  2. quality of graphics, visualization, video: also has a strong impact on performance. If the game is lagging, try lowering the settings from high to medium (or even low);
  3. landscape detail, shadows, fog, etc.: remove, or completely disable, if this is provided by the game;
  4. vertical sync: Try enabling/disabling. Sometimes it gives a significant increase in FPS.


What to look for when setting up game graphics // using Civilization IV as an example

Does the built-in video card switch to discrete when launching games?

This question concerns laptops with two video cards: built-in and discrete. The fact is that when running games, the laptop must use a discrete graphics card for maximum performance.

But this doesn’t always happen; often the laptop doesn’t switch, and you play on the built-in one. Then, even if you have a powerful gaming laptop, you may well observe lags in relatively old games!

I already have an article on my blog dedicated to this problem. I recommend checking it out.

How to launch the game on discrete video card. How to check which video card the game is running on // using NVIDIA as an example -

Have you checked the temperature of the components to see if they are overheating?

Crashes and slowdowns in games may be due to overheating. The fact is that games are quite demanding programs that significantly load both the processor, the video card, and sometimes the hard drive (with intensive data loading).

Particular attention should be paid to temperature in the following cases:

  • strong hum of fans/coolers;
  • when the PC is unstable: reboots, brakes, freezes;
  • warm body (noticeable in laptops/netbooks);
  • frequent critical errors etc.

Usually, you have to think about temperature in warm summers, when the temperature in the room rises significantly and it actually becomes hot (not only for a person, but also for a computer 😆).

To find out and monitor the temperature of the main components (CPU, video card, hard drive), I recommend using one of the utilities:.

For example, in the screenshot below I have a utility Speccy.


In general, it is difficult to say what temperature is critical (a lot depends on the specific iron). But in general, in general, if we highlight:

  1. processor: pay attention to the temperature if in games it begins to exceed 60 degrees Celsius;
  2. hard drive: the normal temperature of a hard drive is considered to be in the range of 25-43 degrees Celsius. If yours is higher, I recommend that you seriously worry, since leaving this zone can seriously affect the durability of your disk;
  3. video card: in general, some models of video cards (for example, NVIDIA) can withstand temperatures up to 100 degrees Celsius. (but personally I can’t call this a normal situation). When the temperature in games is above 80-85 degrees C. - I recommend reading the recommended temperature ranges of your video card manufacturer.

Important! One of the main “enemies” of computer hardware is dust. It penetrates absolutely everywhere, over time clogs the cooling system, which leads to an increase in temperature. And this, in turn, can affect the speed of the PC, as well as its service life.

Cleaning your computer from dust: monitor, system unit, keyboards -

Is Windows OS optimized for maximum speed work?

It's no secret that an optimized Windows OS can work significantly faster than one that no one has worked on. Moreover, all this can also affect PC performance in games (and the number of FPS).

Just imagine: unnecessary services and programs that you never use are for some reason loaded into memory, executed, etc. All this requires spending PC resources.

Not to mention the fact that over time, a large amount of garbage accumulates in the system: temporary files, folders, erroneous registry entries, non-working shortcuts, etc. All this needs to be cleaned and put away, and then Windows will be much more responsive, there will be fewer errors, and better performance!

Optimizing Windows 10 // to speed up your computer -(also relevant for Windows 7, 8)

What power supply circuit is used for the PC? Is the power saving mode enabled?

This point applies more to laptops. The fact is that in Windows there is a power supply section where operating modes are set. There are several options among the modes: economical, optimal (or balanced), and high-performance.

By default, most often, either optimal or economical is used. The latter can generally have a very significant effect on the performance of the laptop (and not only in games).

To open the settings and selection of power supply schemes, go to the panel Windows management by the address: .


High performance // Power supply

Also, when it comes to laptops, some manufacturers equip their devices with special software. Among this software there are modules responsible for powering the laptop: for example, some devices from LENOVO have energy saving modes.


Do you have 2 hard drives? Is one of them disconnected?

If the game works, it works, and then after certain time freezes for 0.5-1 seconds, and then works again - this behavior is similar to turning off the hard drive. Those. Windows turned off the hard drive, and when it needed data from it and the game wanted to get it, it turned on again, and this was the time it took to get it back into operation (at the same time, if you listen closely, you can hear the disk starting to work (make noise)) .

The conclusion suggests itself - you need to prohibit the hard drive from turning off during operation. By the way, this often happens when you have 2 or more hard drives. Some of them are disabled when inactive.

To prevent this, go to the Windows Control Panel at: Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Power Options . Next open the link "Setting up the power plan" at active circuit(example below)!



Next, expand the section "HDD" and put "0" in the tab "disable hard drive via" . This means that the hard drive will never turn off (which is what you want). Save your settings and try returning to the game. Will this characteristic lag disappear?

never disconnect the hard drive // ​​Windows 10

Is your antivirus/firewall enabled, have you tried without it?

And the last thing I wanted to dwell on in this article is viruses and antiviruses (and other security software). In some cases, antiviruses/firewalls can have a significant impact on performance: for example, they may be scheduled to scan your computer for a virus while you are sitting down to play. Often, in this case, the game starts to slow down.

I'll be brief here:

  1. first check your system for viruses (even if you have high-quality anti-virus software installed on your PC), more about this here: ;
  2. if they are not found and everything is in order, disable your antivirus before starting the game and try playing without it. By the way, some antiviruses are very advanced in this regard: they have Game Mode , and in it they practically do not “strain” your system, providing maximum resources for the game.

This is where I end the article. I would be grateful for any additions on the topic.

Lag-free games for everyone! Good Luck :)