Players can experience poor performance in Vermintide 2 for a variety of reasons, so below we’ve listed the most common solutions for improving your FPS. It’s worth remembering that optimisation is a continual process, and your performance may improve with every patch that we release.
If you experience lag when a player connects to or leaves a lobby, or when using Push-to-Talk, please see the article below instead:
[PC] Lag When a Player Connects To/Leaves a Lobby, or When Using Push-To-Talk?
Disable the Steam Overlay
In recent months, the Steam Overlay has been known to result in a substantial drop in performance for some players.
The Steam Overlay can be disabled by unticking the 'Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game' option in the Steam 'Settings' menu, as seen below:
Minimum Requirements
If your PC does not meet the minimum requirements for Vermintide 2, this can result in an unstable experience. Please ensure your PC meets the minimum requirements listed below:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: 64-bit Windows 7, 64-bit Windows 8 (8.1) or 64-bit Windows 10
- Processor: Intel Core i5-2300 @ 2.80 GHz / AMD FX-4350 @ 4.2 GHz
- Memory: 6 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 5870
- DirectX: Version 11
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 85 GB available space
If you aren't sure whether a component meets the minimum requirements, you can use a comparison website such as https://www.userbenchmark.com/.
Verify Integrity of Game Files
The 'Verify Integrity of Game Files' option is accessible via the Steam client and will ensure the installation is complete. An incomplete installation is likely to produce crashes, a loss of performance or other issues.
- Right-click Vermintide 2 in your Steam library sidebar
- Select 'Properties'
- Select the 'Local Files' tab
- Select the 'Verify Integrity of Game Files' button
- When complete, close and reopen Steam
Ensure Vermintide 2 Uses the Correct GPU
If your performance issues are severe, it’s important to check that your dedicated GPU, as opposed to your integrated GPU (if you have one), is being used when you play Vermintide 2. You can check which GPU Vermintide 2 is using by:
- Press the Windows key + R
- Enter %appdata% within the search input and select 'OK'
- Navigate to: AppData\Roaming\Fatshark\Vermintide 2
- Open up the vermintide2_launcher.log
- Press CTRL + F
- Conduct a search for:
AdapterId
- You should see a line like this:
[SysInfo] AdapterId: 0 (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060) OutputId: 0 CurrentResolution: 1920x1080
- If your dedicated GPU is listed within the brackets, you can skip this section. However, if your integrated GPU is listed (e.g. the Microsoft Render Driver), you will need to:
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- Ensure your monitors are plugged in to the dedicated (as opposed to the integrated) GPU ports on the back of your PC
- Perform a clean re-installation of your GPU drivers using the appropriate instructions below:
- For NVIDIA GPUs: Ensure both Steam and Vermintide 2 are set to use your dedicated GPU within the NVIDIA Control Panel by:
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- Right-click the desktop and select the 'NVIDIA Control Panel'
- Navigate to 'Manage 3D Settings' > ‘Program Settings’
- Locate Steam within the list of programs
- Within the 'Select the preferred graphics processor for this program:' dropdown, choose the NVIDIA GPU
- Then locate Vermintide 2 within the list of programs, and repeat the above step
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- For AMD GPUs: Ensure both Steam and Vermintide 2 are set to use your dedicated GPU within the Radeon Settings by:
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- Right-click the desktop and select 'Radeon Settings'
- Navigate to ‘Preferences’ > ‘Additional Settings’ > ‘Power’ > ‘Switchable Graphics’ > ‘Application Settings’
- Locate Steam within the list of programs
- In the ‘Graphics Settings’ column, assign the ‘High Performance’ profile
- Then locate Vermintide 2 within the list of programs, and repeat the above step
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- For Windows 10 users:
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- Navigate to 'Settings' > 'System' > 'Display'
- Select 'Graphics Settings'
- Select the 'Browse' button and locate the Vermintide 2 executable (Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Warhammer Vermintide 2\binaries)
- Select the 'Options' button
- Choose 'High performance' and save your changes
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- For ASUS Notebook users:
- Please refer to: https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1038387/
- For ASUS Notebook users:
Reinstall Your GPU Drivers
Broken or outdated GPU drivers may cause poor performance in Vermintide 2. When updating your drivers, please perform a clean installation which will ensure all previous versions have been removed. This is particularly important if the GPU has been changed at any point.
[PC] How to Perform a Clean Re-Installation of Your NVIDIA GPU Drivers
[PC] How to Perform a Clean Re-Installation of Your AMD GPU Drivers
However, if your performance issues have arisen after one particular driver update, you may need to roll back a version until a new driver is released.
Disable Background Applications
Background applications - commonly overlays or hooks such as RivaTuner, ShadowPlay, Fraps, ReShade and AMD Chill - can interfere with the workings of Vermintide 2.
A Selective Startup can help identify whether a background application is the cause of your poor performance:
- Press the Windows key
- Type 'msconfig' and select 'System Configuration'
- On the 'General' tab, select 'Selective Startup'
- Deselect 'Load startup Items'
- Reboot your PC
If the issues no longer occur after having performed the Selective Startup, try re-introducing your programs one-by-one to determine which is causing your poor performance.
Lower Your Video Quality
Your PC simply may not be able to handle the level of video quality you’ve chosen. Try lowering your video quality and playing around with more demanding options such as Shadows, Screen Space Reflections, Volumetric Fog, Transparency, TAA and Resolution.
Disable VSync (Vertical Sync)
Disabling VSync (Vertical Sync) has been known to reduce stuttering for some players. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that disabling this may worsen Screen Tearing.
Cap Your Framerate
Although it may sound counter-productive, capping your FPS can lessen stuttering and ensure a smoother, more consistent FPS. You can cap your FPS at 60, 90, 120, 144 or 165 FPS. Play around with this option to determine which works best for you.
Switch Between Borderless Fullscreen/Fullscreen/Windowed
You may experience better performance with one mode over the others. Players have reported an improvement with ‘Borderless Fullscreen’ selected, but play around with this option to determine which works best for you.
For Windows 10 Only: Switch Your DirectX Version
Try switching between DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 within the launcher’s ‘Settings’ menu. You may experience better performance with one over the other.
Disable Your Overclocks
Unstable overclocks can result in poor performance in Vermintide 2. If any of your components are overclocked, we recommend reverting the component to it's original clock.
Check for Overheating
Whilst overheating components will usually crash the entire PC, occasionally it may present as a loss of performance or crashes-to-desktop.
More information on how to do this can be seen here: [PC] How to Check If Your PC Components Are Overheating
For Windows 10 Only: Disable ‘Game Bar’
The Game Bar in Windows 10 has been known to negatively impact performance in Vermintide 2. You can disable the Game Bar by:
- Navigate to ‘Settings’ > ‘Gaming’
- Turn off the option for ‘Record Game clips, screenshots and broadcast using Game Bar’
For NVIDIA GPUs Only: Change Your ‘Power Management Mode’
Changing your 'Power management mode' in the NVIDIA Control Panel to 'Prefer maximum performance’ may help improve your performance in Vermintide 2. You can do this by:
- Right-click your desktop
- Select the NVIDIA Control Panel
- Select 'Manage 3D Settings’ > ‘Global Settings'
- Scroll down to 'Power Management Mode'
- Change this to 'Prefer Maximum Performance'
Disable Your Mods
Mods can occasionally negatively impact your performance. If playing with mods, we recommend disabling them to see if this improves the issue.