We can’t deny that Valorant is one of the most played games in 2020 even with the lag spikes, low server FPS and other issues that came along with the game since launch. Almost everyone is in a love-hate relationship with Valorant as it gives intense and competitive gameplay yet fails to retain a stable and smooth experience. That’s why we will provide you with some tips on how to fix Valorant lag spikes and other related issues, FPS drop, high ping and stuttering.
Bear in mind that these fixes will only help boost your performance by 10%-20% and we will have to rely on the game’s upcoming patches to make the game more stable.
Valorant Lag Fix
Solution 1
Before starting our Valorant lag fix, let’s give the game the benefit of the doubt and check if you have some services/applications in the background that are using some of your bandwidth. To do that, you simply need to:
- Launch Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc).
- If Task Manager opens in the simplified view, click “More Details” in the bottom-left corner.
- In the top-right of the window, click the “Network” column header to sort the processes table by network usage.
- Once you find the application or service, right-click on it and click on End Task.
After closing the application, enter a match and keep an eye on your PING. If it’s low and stable, it means that the issue is now fixed.
Some services will launch again after you restart the computer and use your internet connection. they are usually related to Windows updates or optimization. In order to prevent that from happening, simply follow the below instructions:
- Open the Control Panel.
- Choose System and Security.
- Choose Administrative Tools.
- Open the Services icon.
- Locate a service to disable. …
- Double-click the service to open its Properties dialog box.
- Choose Disabled as the Startup type and press OK.
Solution 2
If nothing is using bandwidth, then it might be time to check whether someone in the house is using the Wifi. Devices connected to Wifi tend to passively update and install apps and firmware updates.
Solution 3
Valorant requires these ports to be open in order to be able to play the game smoothly.
- TCP: 2099,5222-5223,8088,8393-8400
- UDP: 5000-5500,8088
If Windows Firewall is already disabled, you can skip this solution. If not, then follow the instructions down below (You will have to do this for each port number):
- To open a port, navigate to Start > Control Panel > System and Security.
- Click Check firewall status. The Windows Firewall window appears.
- Click Advanced settings. The Windows Firewall and Advanced Security screen appears.
- Click Inbound Rules.
- Click New Rule. The New inbound Rule Wizard appears.
- Click Port
- Click Next. The Protocol and Ports screen appears.
- Click TCP or UDP depending on the desired port. Then click Specific local ports.
- Enter the port numbers to open.
- Click Next. The Action screen appears. Select Allow the connection.
- Click Next. The Profile screen appears.
- Click Next. The Name screen appears. Enter a name and description for the rule.
This Valorant lag fix worked for almost everyone. Please continue if you’re still having the same problem.
Solution 4
WTFast is a software that allows you to play any game with reduced latency. You can give that a try if the above solutions didn’t work for you.
Solution 5
Forwarding data to the nearest and fastest server sounds like a good idea. A simple DNS tweak will do just that.
- Open Settings
- Find Network and Internet > Change Adapter Settings.
- Right-click on your wireless network
- Select Properties
- Highlight Internet Protocol Version 4.
- Replace them with 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.
- Click OK, then Close.
- Click Start.
- Enter cmd in the Start menu search text box.
- Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.
- Run the following command: ipconfig /flushdns. If the command succeeds, the system returns the following message: Windows IP configuration successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache.
- Restart the computer
Solution 6
If you still having the same problem and the Valorant lag fix above didn’t do the job, then capping your FPS to your monitor refresh rate will fix it. For example, If you have a 60hz monitor, then you should cap the frame rate to 60.
Valorant FPS DROP FIX
Before trying the below fixes, you need to make sure that you have the minimum requirements.
VALORANT System Requirements (Minimum)
- CPU: Intel i3-370MRAM: 4 GB
- OS: Windows 7/8/10 64-bit
- VIDEO CARD: Intel HD 3000
- PIXEL SHADER: 3.0
- VERTEX SHADER: 3.0
VALORANT Recommended Requirements
- CPU: Core i5-4460
- RAM: 4 GB
- OS: Windows 7/8/10 64-bit
- VIDEO CARD: GTX 1050 Ti
- PIXEL SHADER: 5.1
- VERTEX SHADER: 5.1
- DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 4096 MB
Valorant optimal video settings
- Material Quality – Low
- Texture Quality – Low
- Detail Quality – Low.
- Vignette – Off.
- V-Sync – Off.
- Anti-Aliasing – None
- Anisotropic Filtering – 1x
- Improve Clarity – On
- Enhanced Gun Skin Visuals – Off
- Distortion – Off
- Shadows – Off
Optimize Windows 10 For Valorant
Game Mode
You can rely on Windows Game Mode to optimize Windows 10 for gaming. This feature I provided by Microsoft and will disable certain services running in the background that may affect the game performance negatively.
In order to enable this feature, follow these instructions:
- In the search bar, type in Game Mode
- Click on Game Mode Settings or Turn on Game Mode
- You can then enable the feature by simply switching it to On
CPU Un-park
Sometimes, Windows will limit the use of your CPU cores to lower power consumption but will decrease performance. Fortunately, there’s a software that allows you to take full advantage of your CPU cores.
Quick CPU is free and light software that will not only un-park CPU cores but also allows you to set the performance to the maximum.
Activate ultimate performance
Windows continues to limit the machine performance by hiding one of the most needed features. You can activate a Power Plan called Ultimate Performance.
- You can enable that by simply typing the below command in Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell (they both require Admin access).
powercfg –duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61
- The operation will then return a message saying that it was enabled successfully.
- Go to Settings
- Go to the left-pane menu, then click Power & Sleep from the options.
- Under the Related Settings section, click Additional Power Settings.
- A new window will pop up. Click Show Additional Plans, then select the Ultimate Performance option.
Disable Game Bar
- Right-click the Start button.
- Settings > Gaming > Game Bar
- Click the switch below Record game clips. Screenshots, and broadcast using Game Bar to turn it Off.
Nvidia Control Panel
This fix is aimed only to Nvidia graphics card users. The default settings provided by Nvidia is not optimal and you need to reconfigure that to boost the framerate in Valorant. Copy the settings below:
- Go to NVIDIA Control Panel > Manage 3D settings.
- Select Global Settings or Program Settings and select Valorant.
- Maximum pre-rendered frames = 1.
- Preferred refresh rate = “Highest available”.
- Power Management Mode = “Prefer maximum performance”.
- Threaded optimization = ON.
- Vertical sync = OFF.
- Click apply to confirm the changes.
Valorant Stuttering FIX
Upgrade to SSD
One of the obvious reasons why you are experiencing stuttering and micro-stuttering is using a Hard Drive (HDD) rather than using a Solid-State Drive (SSD). Physical components upgrade is always the best call for a good gaming experience.
Update GPU drivers.
If the game is installed in an SSD and you’re still experiencing stuttering or freeze in the game, updating your GPU will fix the issue.
For Nvidia users
- Navigate to this website: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/drivers/
- Download the Automatic Driver Updates
- Install the GeForce Experience and login (Register if you don’t have an account)
- Go to Drivers and launch the scan
- Download the missing update
For AMD users
In this website, you will find all of the details on how to install AMD Driver Auto-Detect Tool to update your GPU driver: https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/faq/gpu-131
Disable Windows Visual Effects
- Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command.
- Type sysdm.cpl and click OK to launch System Properties.
- Under “Performance,” Got to Settings.
- Select “Adjust for best performance”
- Click OK.
Close background apps
Any application running in the background will use some of your computer’s resources. In order to prevent that from happening, check the applications at the bottom right and close the ones that you don’t need.
Valorant Couldn’t Start Error
A lot of players are experiencing this issue whenever they try to launch the game. It will display an error saying “Couldn’t start…”.
This error displays whenever there’s not suffiecent permissions to access the target, which in our case is Valorant installed in the C drive.
To fix this problem we will need to run the game as Administrator:
- Right-click the Valorant shortcut on your Desktop and got to Properties
- Click on Compatibility
- Under Settings, check both Disable fullscreen optimizations & Run this program as an administrator
- Restart the game
If you still experiencing the same issue, then proceed with the following steps:
- Navigate to C:\Riot Games\VALORANT\live\ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64
- Right click on VALORANT-Win64-Shipping.exe
- Go to properties
- Uncheck fullscreen optimizations
- Restart the game
Valorant Anti-Cheat Fix
Solution 1
- Close Valorant and open Task Manager (Right-click on the taskbar and select Task Manager)
- Search for any Valorant running instances and click on End Task
- Open the Run console by holding the Windows key + R
- Type “services.msc”
- In the services list, search for “vgc”
- Double-click on the service
- Under General, set the Startup type to “Automatic”
- Under Service status, click on Start
- Press Apply and then OK
Solution 2
Antiviruses may block the Anti-cheat from running in the background. Make sure to whitelist Vanguard in the Antivirus you have installed on your computer.
Solution 3
- Navigate to C:\Riot Games\VALORANT\live\ShooterGame\Binaries\Win64
- Right click on VALORANT-Win64-Shipping.exe
- Go to properties
- Uncheck fullscreen optimizations & enable Run as administrator
- Restart the game
There you have it, an ultimate fix for all of your Valorant problems (Valorant lag fix, FPS drop, High ping and stuttering). This article should cover every little error you encounter and will make the game smoother and enjoyable. However, Valorant is still yet to be fixed, especially, the problems related to network, lag and sudden FPS drop. This is usually the result of poor netcode or low resources to process the data coming in and out from and to the servers.
We will have to wait for Riot games to fix those issues and in the meantime, we will continue posting Valorant related content.