6 Ways to Fix Excessive Deadlock Stuttering on a Windows PC

Deadlock is already a very popular game, even though it is still in open beta. However, many players are reporting that the game stutters too much. For example, one player said, “I have over 40 hours of play time on this game, and it started having this terrible stuttering/lag issue all of a sudden, making the game unplayable.” Try these Windows PC fixes to reduce excessive Deadlock stuttering and rule out common launch, display, overlay, and GPU-setting issues.

1. Set a DirectX 11 Launch Option

Setting the -dx11 launch option via Steam will force Deadlock to run with DirectX 11 instead of Vulkan. Try this if the game stutters heavily with the default renderer. You can set a DirectX 11 launch option for the game like this:

1. Open Steam and click Library.
2. Next, right-click Deadlock and select Properties on the Steam context menu.
3. Enter -dx11 in the launch options box.

The -dx11 launch option

2. Adjust Compatibility Settings

You can also reduce stuttering by changing two compatibility options for Deadlock: Run this program as an administrator and Disable full-screen optimizations. Here’s where to enable them:

1. Press the Windows logo + E hotkey and open the SteamLibrary > steamapps > common > Deadlock > game > bin > win64 folder.
2. Right-click on the deadlock.exe game file to select Properties > Compatibility.
3. Click Disable fullscreen optimization to select that checkbox.
4. Select Run this program as an administrator by clicking its checkbox.
   
   

   The Compatibility tab and settings

5. To save settings as selected, click the Apply and OK buttons.

3. Select Fullscreen in Deadlock

Selecting Fullscreen under the Window Mode option can reduce Deadlock stuttering by letting the game bypass the Desktop Window Manager. Change it in the game’s settings like this:

1. Start the Deadlock game.
2. Click on the Settings button.
3. Select the Video tab.
4. Click on the Use Custom Resolution option.
5. Next, click the Window Mode drop-down menu to select Fullscreen.
   
   

   The FullScreen option

6. Select the Apply Settings option.

4. Disable the Discord Overlay

If you use Discord while playing Deadlock, turn off its in-game overlay to reduce possible GPU resource conflicts. These are the steps for disabling Discord’s overlay:

1. Open the Discord software.
2. Click the Settings menu button at the bottom of Discord.
3. Select the Game Overlay tab.
4. Click the Enable In-game overlay setting to toggle it off.

The Discord overlay setting

5. Disable Discord Hardware Acceleration

Disable Discord hardware acceleration as well. This prevents Discord from using GPU rendering while Deadlock is running, which can reduce resource competition. You can turn off the Hardware Acceleration setting in Discord like this:

1. Start your Discord software.
2. Click the Settings within Discord.
3. Select the Advanced tab.
   
   

   The Hardware Acceleration setting

4. Click on the Hardware Acceleration switch to turn off that setting.

6. Select High Performance Graphics Settings

Windows Settings includes High Performance and Power Saving settings for the graphics card. If your PC has more than one GPU, set Deadlock to High Performance so Windows uses the dedicated graphics card for the game. Here’s how:

1. Open Windows Search.
2. Next, enter graphics settings and select the matching search result.
3. Click Add desktop app and select the deadlock.exe game file.
4. Next, click on the Deadlock game added and select High Performance from there.
5. Turn on the Optimizations for windowed games setting.

The High Performance graphics setting

7. Other Ways to Fix Deadlock Stuttering on a Windows PC

If Deadlock still stutters after those changes, try these broader Windows and game troubleshooting steps:

• Disable startup apps and services by clean-booting Windows.
• Update your graphics card driver manually or with AMD/NVIDIA apps.
• Disable alternative Steam, NVIDIA, and AMD overlays.
• Reinstall the Deadlock game.

These fixes are not guaranteed, but they have helped reduce Deadlock stuttering for some players. Start with the launch, fullscreen, overlay, and GPU-setting changes, then move on to clean booting, driver updates, or reinstalling if the issue continues.