Games Stuttering or Freezing on PC? 7 Causes and How to Fix Each One

In this guide (10 sections)

• Short freezes or low FPS?
• What exactly happens?
• 1. The game is still preparing its visual effects
• 2. Background apps and overlays are interrupting the game
• 3. The RAM is running in single channel or at its slow default speed
• 4. The graphics card’s memory is full
• 5. The game is on a slow or nearly full disk
• 6. The processor or graphics card is overheating
• 7. A BIOS setting or overclock is making the PC unstable
• Real cases: what other users ran into

Stutter (short, repeated freezes) is when a game freezes for a fraction of a second and then carries on, again and again. It’s different from a game that’s simply slow: the average frame rateFPS (frames per second): How many pictures per second the PC draws in a game. More is smoother; around 60 or more feels fluid. More in our Windows & performance glossary →Close ✕ can look perfectly good while the freezes keep coming. The good news is that the usual causes are settings, background programs and how the PC’s memory is set up, not broken parts.

Short freezes or low FPS?

Before you start, make sure short freezes (stutter) are really your problem. A free tool like MSI Afterburner can show a frame timeFrame time and short freezes (stutter): How long each frame takes to appear. When one takes much longer than the rest, the picture freezes for a moment (a short freeze). More in our Windows & performance glossary →Close ✕ graph on screen while you play (our guide on how to monitor temps while gaming shows how to set it up). Each freeze appears as a tall spike.

Short freezes or low FPS? What the frame time graph shows

Across: a few seconds of play. Up: how long each frame takes, in milliseconds (lower is better).

• Smooth: every frame takes about the same time (here about 16 ms, which is 60 FPS).
• Short freezes (stutter): mostly fast, but a few frames take far longer. The game freezes for a moment, even though the FPS counter looks fine.
• Low FPS: every frame is slow (here about 33 ms, which is 30 FPS). Steady, but the whole game feels sluggish.

If the whole game runs slowly, or the frame rate falls and stays low after a while, that’s a different problem: see our guide on FPS drops while gaming.

What exactly happens?

What you see	Most likely cause	Where to look
The game freezes briefly the first time you play it, or right after a driver update, and gets better later.	The game is preparing its effects	Cause 1
The short freezes happen in every game, often at regular intervals.	A background app or overlay	Cause 2
The game runs fine after a restart, but freezes briefly every so often after an hour or so.	A background app, or memory filling up	Cause 2
The PC has a single RAM module, or the RAM speed shown is lower than the box says.	RAM setup	Cause 3
The freezes are worse at high texture settings or high resolution, and when turning quickly.	The graphics card’s memory is full	Cause 4
The game freezes briefly when loading new areas, and it’s installed on a hard drive.	Slow or nearly full disk	Cause 5
The game gets jerkier the longer you play, and the PC is hot and loud.	Overheating	Cause 6
The freezes started after changing BIOS settings or a BIOS update.	A BIOS setting or overclock	Cause 7

1. The game is still preparing its visual effects

Many modern games prepare their lighting and effects for your exact graphics card the first time they’re needed. This is called shader compilationShader compilation: Games preparing their visual effects for your graphics card. It can cause short freezes the first time you play. More in our Windows & performance glossary →Close ✕. When it happens during play, you see short freezes each time something new appears: a new area, an explosion, a new weapon.

How to check: the freezes are worst the first time you play, or right after a graphics driver update, and gets better the more you play the same areas.

Fix:

• If the game has a “compiling shaders” or “optimizing” screen when it starts, let it finish before playing.
• Play for 15–20 minutes. The game stores the prepared effects, so the same scenes run smoothly next time.
• Don’t reinstall the graphics driver more often than you need to: each new driver makes games prepare their effects again.

Some games freeze like this for everyone. If a search for the game’s name plus “stutter” shows many players with the same problem on strong PCs, the fix has to come from a game update.

2. Background apps and overlays are interrupting the game

Programs running alongside the game can steal the processor’s attention for a moment, which shows up as a short freeze, often every few seconds. Common culprits are RGB lighting and peripheral apps (keyboard, mouse, headset and case lighting software), overlays (Steam, Discord, the graphics driver’s own overlay, recording tools), animated wallpapers and monitoring tools reading many sensors.

How to check:

1. Close everything you can, including the apps in the bottom-right corner of the taskbar.
2. Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc), go to Startup apps and note which programs start with Windows.
3. Play the same game again. If the freezes stop or ease, bring the apps back one by one to find the culprit.

Fix: uninstall or disable the app causing it, or set up your lighting once and then stop its app from starting with Windows. Turn off overlays you don’t use. If the freezes only appear after the PC has been on for a long time, a restart clears it for a while: that’s a strong sign of a background program, so keep testing.

3. The RAM is running in single channel or at its slow default speed

Games, especially on modern processors, are sensitive to how fast the RAM is. Two common setups slow it down a lot: a single RAM module (or two modules in the wrong slots), which runs in single channel instead of dual channelDual channel: Two RAM modules working side by side, which roughly doubles memory bandwidth. It needs the right slots. More in our RAM & storage glossary →Close ✕, and RAM running at its slow default speed because XMP or EXPOXMP / EXPO: A one-click BIOS setting that runs RAM at its advertised faster speed. If unstable, the PC may not start. More in our RAM & storage glossary →Close ✕ was never switched on.

How to check: open Task Manager → Performance → Memory. Look at “Slots used” and “Speed”. Compare the speed with the number on the RAM box or listing (for example 6000 for DDR5-6000, 3200 for DDR4-3200).

Fix:

• One module? Adding an identical second module usually makes games noticeably smoother. Our guide on which RAM slots to use shows where it goes.
• Speed lower than the box? Turn on XMP or EXPO in the BIOS. It’s a single setting.
• Not sure? Our guide on RAM not running at full speed walks through every check.

4. The graphics card’s memory is full

The graphics card has its own memory, called VRAMVRAM (video memory): The graphics card's own memory for textures and effects. When it fills up, games freeze briefly. More in our Graphics cards & display glossary →Close ✕, for textures and effects. If a game needs more than the card has, it keeps swapping data with the slower system RAM, and you get short freezes, especially when turning quickly or entering new areas.

How to check: cards with 8 GB or less are the most affected at high texture settings, high resolutions or with ray tracing on. Many games show a VRAM bar in their graphics menu. Lower the texture quality one step and play the same scene.

Fix: keep texture quality at a level your card’s memory can handle. Textures are usually the only setting that needs lowering, since they cost little speed but a lot of memory. Turning off ray tracing or lowering the resolution also frees memory.

5. The game is on a slow or nearly full disk

Modern games load new areas from the drive while you play. An old hard drive (HDD) can’t keep up, and you get short freezes each time the game needs new data.

How to check: in the game launcher, see which drive the game is installed on. In File Explorer, check how full that drive is.

Fix:

• Move the game to an SSD. Most launchers (Steam, Epic, EA app) can move an installed game without downloading it again.
• Keep at least 10–15% of the drive free.

6. The processor or graphics card is overheating

When the processor or graphics card gets too hot, it slows itself down to stay safe. This is called thermal throttlingThermal throttling (slowing down from heat): When a chip slows itself down because it's too hot, to protect itself. More in our Cooling & noise glossary →Close ✕, and it shows up as short freezes and falling frame rates after you’ve been playing for a while.

How to check: watch your temperatures while you play. Our guide on how to monitor temps while gaming shows the easiest ways to do it with free tools.

Fix: clean the dust, check that every fan spins, and give the case fresh air. Our guides on safe CPU temperatures while gaming and how hot a graphics card should run explain what’s normal and what to do about it.

7. A BIOS setting or overclock is making the PC unstable

Some motherboards switch on automatic “boost”, “turbo” or overclocking options by default, and some BIOS versions have bugs that cause short freezes. Older AMD Ryzen systems, for example, had a known freezing problem with the security chip setting (fTPM) that was fixed by a BIOS update.

How to check: think back. Did the freezes start after changing BIOS settings, enabling an automatic overclock or updating the BIOS?

Fix:

1. Load the BIOS defaults (Load Optimized Defaults; the keyboard key to press is shown at the bottom of the BIOS screen), then turn on only XMP or EXPO again.
2. If the freezes are gone, leave the automatic overclocking options off.
3. Check your motherboard maker’s website for a newer BIOS. Its list of changes may mention short freezes.

If none of the steps help, update the chipset and graphics drivers from the makers’ websites, and test another game to see whether the problem is the game itself.

Real cases: what other users ran into

These are real reports from PC forums, summarized in our own words, with a link to each original thread.

Real caseSolvedConstant short freezes, mostly gone after turning off a lighting appRead what happened

In October 2024, a player with what they described as a high-end PC had constant short, repeated freezes in Silent Hill 2, even with the graphics on low. Turning off and uninstalling Razer Synapse, the app that controls the lighting on Razer keyboards and mice, “eliminated a lot of the constant stuttering”, in the words of the person who posted. They concluded that third-party lighting apps can cause short freezes in games.

Takeaway: lighting and peripheral apps are a common cause of short freezes. See cause 2.

Source: Steam Community (Silent Hill 2 discussions)

Real caseSolution not confirmed by the userSmooth after a restart, freezing briefly after an hourRead what happened

In November 2024, a user’s games ran smoothly after starting the PC, but after about an hour of play every game developed short freezes and frame time spikes, until the next restart. Turning off overlays and Windows Fast Startup didn’t help, and removing NZXT CAM and Razer Synapse brought only a small improvement. A reply suggested a free tool that clears Windows’ standby memory. The owner said it “seems to be working” but wasn’t yet sure it was the fix, and didn’t report back after that.

Takeaway: freezes that build up over time and disappears after a restart points to something running in the background. See cause 2.

Source: Linus Tech Tips Forum

Real caseRyzen 9 5900X · RTX 4070 · Gigabyte B550 · 32 GB DDR4SolvedA new PC freezing briefly in games until an automatic CPU boost was turned offRead what happened

In December 2023, a brand-new PC kept freezing briefly in Baldur’s Gate 3, Counter-Strike 2 and other games, whatever the graphics settings, with low usage and normal temperatures. The owner tried driver updates, graphics settings, a different display cable and unplugging USB devices, and XMP was already on. He then found that the BIOS had enabled a “turbo mode” for the processor by default. Turning it off and lowering the processor’s voltage, he wrote, it’s “been running fine since”.

Takeaway: automatic boost options in the BIOS can make a PC unstable. Loading the BIOS defaults is a quick test. See cause 7.

Source: Micro Center Community

Frequently asked questions

Why does my game freeze briefly even with high FPS?

Because the FPS counter shows an average over a second. A single frame that takes ten times longer than the rest freezes the picture for a moment, but barely changes the average. The frame time graph shows it clearly.

Will a better graphics card stop the freezes?

Usually not. Most short freezes come from settings, background apps, RAM setup or the game itself. A new card only helps if its memory (VRAM) was running out.

Does capping the frame rate help?

Often, yes. A frame rate capFrame rate cap (FPS limit): A setting that stops the graphics card making more frames per second than you choose, so it works less hard. More in our Graphics cards & display glossary →Close ✕ a little below what your PC can reach gives it spare headroom, so busy moments cause fewer spikes. It’s a free, reversible test.

Can a hard drive cause short freezes even if the game is on an SSD?

Rarely. But a nearly full SSD, or a game whose files are partly on another drive (such as mods), can. Check where everything is installed.

Should I reinstall Windows?

Only as a last resort. A clean install hides the cause rather than finding it, and the freezes may come back as soon as you reinstall the same apps.