Fix GTA V Stuttering Lag: Quick and Easy Fixes 2023

How To Fix GTA V Stuttering Lag

This action-adventure game is popular among gamers, but GTA 5’s gaming experience isn’t always top-notch. Players have complained that GTA V stuttering lag interrupts the game. Hardware issues, incorrect in-game settings, a damaged graphics driver, and other factors can all contribute to this issue.

It could be challenging for you to identify the issue, though. So if you’re having trouble with the GTA 5 stuttering problem, you shouldn’t worry.

To start, all you need to do is verify your computer’s specifications and upgrade your hardware to meet Grand Theft Auto V PC system requirements.

Try the following efficient solutions if the stuttering or lag while gameplay persists. Without further ado, let’s start reading the guide.

Quick Guide: How to Fix GTA V Stuttering Lag

  • Close unnecessary processes running in the background
  • Disable fullscreen optimization
  • Enlarge the drive where GTA 5 is installed
  • Launch GTA 5 as administrator
  • Upgrade the original HDD to SSD
  • Configure GTA 5 game settings
  • Update graphics driver

What Is GTA V?

The 2013 action-adventure game Grand Theft Auto V was created by Rockstar North and released by Rockstar Games. After 2008’s Grand Theft Auto IV, it is the series’ seventh primary installment and its fifteenth overall.

The single-player narrative centers on three protagonists—retired mobster Michael De Santa, street thug Franklin Clinton, and a druggie and gunrunner Trevor Philips—as they attempt to pull off heists while being pressured by a dishonest government agency and ruthless criminals. San Andreas is a fictional state that is modeled after Southern California.

Players can freely explore the broad countryside of San Andreas and the made-up city of Los Santos, which is modeled after Los Angeles, thanks to the open-world concept.

The game’s universe can be explored on foot or by car, and it can be played from either a third- or a first-person perspective. The three main protagonists are controlled by the player throughout the single-player and can be switched between both inside and outside of missions.

The robbery scenes serve as the story’s focal point, and many of the missions combine driving and shooting action. The aggressiveness of law enforcement’s response to players who commit crimes is governed by a “wanted” system.

What Is The Reason For GTA V Stuttering Lag?

There are several potential causes of GTA V stuttering lag, and each one has a unique remedy. These are some potential reasons why GTA V stuttering lag on PC may occur:

  • PC requirements are not met. You must fulfill the prerequisites in order for GTA V to operate on your System. If not, you run the risk of encountering performance problems including stuttering, freezing, and crashing. To know the PC requirements, check the section below.
  • Device drivers on the pc that are out of date or damaged. Your computer’s graphics driver could be at fault or out of date if GTA V is stuttering. Upgrade your GPU driver to the recent version to solve the issue.
  • FPS is excessive. The high FPS may be the cause of GTA 5’s latency and stuttering problems. So it makes sense to change the game’s FPS cap.
  • Inadequate network connection. Lagging, stuttering, and even crashes can be caused by a bad or unstable network connection. Always check to see if your network is stable enough for GTA V to run on your System.
  • Several 3D PC games have a display feature called Vsync, which enables players to synchronize their frame rate with their monitor’s refresh rate to lessen screen tearing. Nonetheless, several gamers have reported stuttering as a result of the function.

These could be the reasons for GTA V stuttering lag.

Methods To Fix GTA V Stuttering lag

Here is a list of methods you can use to fix the GTA V stuttering lag. Follow the steps mentioned with each GTA V stuttering lag fixing method and you should be able to enjoy a seamless gaming experience!

GTA V Stuttering Lag Fix Method 1: Close Unnecessary Processes Running in the Background

While you’re playing the game, you might occasionally have some other programs running in the background. Yet in reality, these activities could use a lot of resources, which would cause a Computer issue with GTA 5 to stutter.

Consequently, you should stop all superfluous background activities in order to free up more resources for Grand Theft Auto 5. Here is how you do it:

  1. Choose Task Manager by selecting the Start button’s context menu.
  2. Right-click the task you want to end under the Processes tab and select End task. After choosing the process, you may alternatively click the Finish task button in the bottom right corner of the window.
  3. To shut down any superfluous processes, repeat the procedure for any additional ones.

GTA V Stuttering Lag Fix Method 2: Disable Fullscreen Optimization

The game has full control over the display and the distribution of your graphics card’s resources when it is in fullscreen mode. And for a better visual experience and immersive sense, the majority of players choose to play the game in such a borderless fullscreen.

But sadly, it has been established that, in some instances, fullscreen is connected to the GTA 5 PC issue of stuttering. Thus, go to disable it if you are experiencing GTA 5 lagging or stuttering issues while playing in fullscreen mode. To make the modification, simply enter GTA 5’s Properties and choose the Disable fullscreen optimizations checkbox under the Compatibility tab.

GTA V Stuttering Lag Fix Method 3: Enlarge the Drive Where GTA 5 Is Installed

The machine needs 65 GB to run Grand Theft Auto V. Just because there are exactly 65 GB accessible on the drive where the game is loaded doesn’t ensure you can play it smoothly.

In order to keep continuous updates, patches, and other necessary data, GTA 5 actually needs a lot more free space. If there is not enough free space, the game may stutter. As a result, you may have to take steps to increase the game’s storage drive. Here are your two choices.

Move the Game to Another Drive

You should transfer GTA 5 to another drive if it has enough free space if this is the simplest option. You can make use of the Steam client’s embedded capability to accomplish this. You can refer to the brief instructions below:

  • Open Steam and click the ADD LIBRARY FOLDER button in the pop-up box under Settings > Downloads > Steam Library Folders.
  • To create a new folder on your disk that will be used to store the game, select a drive that has enough free space, type in the folder name you wish, and click OK.
  • Return to the Steam main menu and select LIBRARY. Choose Properties from the context menu when you right-click GTA 5.
  • Choose MOVE INSTALL FOLDER from the LOCAL FILES tab. To move the game data to the target drive, choose the library folder you just created and press MOVE FOLDER.

Extend the Drive with MiniTool Partition Wizard

You have the option of extending the initial drive by using space from another drive if no one drive has adequate free space. You must utilize a trustworthy third-party application because this is a dangerous activity. You are advised to use MiniTool Partition Wizard, and by doing so, you can extend the drive by following the instructions below.

  1. On your computer, download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard.
  2. Choose the Extend Partition function after selecting the target drive.
  3. To choose how much free space to take, choose a partition from the Take Free Space list and slide the slider. Click OK to proceed.
  4. To complete the action, click the Apply button.

GTA V Stuttering Lag Fix Method 4: Launch GTA 5 As Administrator

You should be aware that the majority of installed programs need administrator rights to operate properly on your computer. In a similar vein, GTA 5 requires administrator access to the system’s game files. Certain required files cannot be read or loaded if they lack the necessary permissions. You can experience GTA 5 stuttering as a result.

So you might try giving the game administrator access. Simply select Run as administrator from the shortcut or executable’s context menu when you right-click it. You can try the next method if the GTA V stuttering problem doesn’t go away. If the problem goes away, proceed with the steps below to configure the game to always launch as administrator.

  1. Go to Properties by selecting the shortcut or executable for GTA 5.
  2. Check the compatibility tab. Choose to run this program as an administrator.
  3. To save changes, click Apply and OK.

GTA V Stuttering Lag Fix Method 5: Upgrade the Original HDD to SSD

Due to its fast performance, SSD can provide a better gaming experience, making it the standard choice over HDD among gamers (See more information about SSD and HDD). So, switching from an HDD to an SSD is also a workable and efficient solution if you experience stuttering or latency during games.

Upgrade to SSD if the aforementioned fixes for GTA 5 stuttering don’t work. You must move your data to the new SSD before replacing the old HDD. To do that, you can sign up for the MiniTool Partition Wizard Pro Ultimate edition.

  1. Make a great gaming SSD and attach it to your computer. Open the Partition Wizard in MiniTool.
  2. Select Copy Disk from the left pane after selecting the original disk. Click the Next button after selecting the new SSD as the destination drive to proceed.
  3. Make adjustments based on your requirements, then click the Next button to finalize the changes.
  4. Click Finish after reading the instructions on how to launch from the new disk. To begin operations, press the Apply button.
  5. You can take out the old disk and set up the SSD on your computer after transferring the data.

GTA V Stuttering Lag Fix Method 6: Configure GTA 5 Game Settings

The in-game settings may potentially be to blame for the GTA V stuttering problem. You are more likely to experience the issue if your GTA 5 settings have been incorrectly set up. You can do the following with the game’s settings.

Reduce FPS

Many people aimlessly desire high FPS because they believe it would always improve their gaming experience. GTA 5 is one of the games that aren’t appropriate for high FPS, though. The FPS of 60 Hz is actually plenty for GTA 5, and greater FPS may result in lagging or stuttering issues.

As a result, if you are utilizing greater FPS, you need lower the FPS in the game. You must go to GTA 5 SETTINGS > Graphics > Refresh Rate and change it to 60 Hz or less to accomplish this. Restart the game after saving the adjustments to see if the stuttering problem has been resolved.

Turn Off VSync

Several 3D PC games have a feature called Vsync that synchronizes the frame rate with the refresh rate of the monitor to lessen screen tearing. This feature could occasionally cause gameplay stuttering. Therefore you might try turning off this functionality.

Just disable VSync in GTA V’s Graphics settings by going there. If this feature is already off, enable it, restart the game, and then disable it once more.

Set Graphics Settings to Normal

The following settings, which are frequently set higher than Normal, should also be taken into consideration in addition to the ones mentioned above:

  • Reflection Quality
  • Texture Quality
  • Shadow Quality
  • Grass Quality
  • Shader Quality

These in-game graphical options may also be the cause of GTA 5’s lagging or stuttering issue, according to sources. You should adjust the aforementioned graphics settings to Normal in order to resolve the current problem.

GTA V Stuttering Lag Fix Method 7: Update graphics driver

The quality of the images may be related to the GTA stuttering issue. Updating the graphics card driver is a great way to improve game graphics quality. Because of this, you can have the GTA 5 stuttering problem or other issues with outdated or incorrect drivers.

You may update your driver either manually or automatically.

Manually: Download and Install The Driver Yourself

From the official website of the manufacturer, you may get graphics drivers. Get a suitable driver for your particular operating system by searching for the model of the device you are using. then manually download the driver.

Automatically: Update The Drivers Automatically

You may update your graphics drivers automatically with Driver Easy if you don’t have the time or patience to do it manually.

Your system will be instantly recognized by Driver Simple, which will then locate the appropriate drivers. You don’t have to be aware of the specific operating system that your computer is using, take the chance of downloading and installing the incorrect driver, or stress over making a mistake during installation.

Driver Easy’s PRO or FREE versions both allow you to automatically update your drivers.

What Are The System Requirements If You Don’t Want GTA V Stuttering Lag?

The following are the system requirements for GTA V:

  • Operating System: Windows 8.1 64 Bit, Windows 8 64 Bit, Windows 7 64 Bit Service Pack 1
  • Processor: Intel Core i5 3470 @ 3.2GHZ (4 CPUs) / AMD X8 FX-8350 @ 4GHZ (8 CPUs)
  • Memory: 8GB
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB / AMD HD7870 2GB
  • Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible
  • HDD Space: 65GB

List of Devices Compatible With GTA V

Here is a comprehensive list of all the devices compatible with Disney Plus. If you are cont sure about your device, you can contact customer service and check whether your device supports Disney Plus.

  1. PlayStation 3.
  2. Xbox 360.
  3. PlayStation 4.
  4. Xbox One.
  5. Windows.
  6. PlayStation 5.
  7. Xbox Series X/S.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can 8 GB RAM run GTA V without GTA V stuttering lag?

To run GTA 5, your computer needs to meet the system requirements of the game. For RAM, 8 GB RAM is the requirement, so you should have no issues with GTA V stuttering lag.

Is there a way to make GTA V run better on low-end computers?

You may lower GTA V’s visual settings to make it operate more smoothly on a low-end PC. Also, you can apply certain GTA V mods to improve the game’s performance.

Can I get GTA V on my Mobile?

There is no official app for the famous action game, so you can not officially play the game on your mobile.

is GTA V a good game?

GTA V is one of the most popular and successful games of all time. You will have fun playing it!

Conclusion

We have provided you with 7 solutions for GTA V stuttering lag issue. If you follow these step by step, you will be able to solve the GTA V stuttering lag issue and enjoy the game without any difficulties and obstacles.