Last Updated on October 24, 2022
Gotham Knights is a game that came out a few hours back and is already sitting with a mixed rating on Steam. None of the game releases this year were perfect, and most had issues. Warner Bros games have already confirmed that they will soon be pushing out an update to fix performance issues. I was able to run the game without a problem, so not sure why everyone started bad-mouthing the title even before it came out.
Batman is no more, and the responsibility sits on Batman’s Family’s shoulders to take down all the notorious villains. The game is set in the same universe as the Batman movies and comics, and players can unlock new gear and abilities for their characters as they progress. The graphics are excellent, and the gameplay is engaging and challenging. I highly recommend this game to any fan of Batman or superhero games.
If you have a half-decent PC that matches the system requirements even a little bit, you will be able to play the game. If you are facing issues such as FPS Drops and Stuttering, then there are workarounds that I will discuss in this article.
How to Fix Lag & FPS Drops in Gotham Knights
Gotham Knights is yet another demanding title, so people having issues while trying to run it are apparent. According to Steam Hardware Survey, GTX1060 is the most used card.
System Requirements
Minimum:
- Processor: Intel Core i5-9600K (3.7 GHz) OR AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (3.60 GHz)
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti OR AMD Radeon RX 590
Recommended:
- Processor: Intel Core i7-10700K (3.8 GHz) or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X (3.7 GHz)
- Memory: 16 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 or AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT
I tested the game on two of my computers, one is running RTX2060, and another one is running on RTX3080. The lower-end computer had a few problems while trying to run the game at higher settings, so adjustments were needed. I am going to talk about the adjustments in this article.
Update: Use Custom Steam Launch Options for an instant boost.
- Launch Steam
- Go to Library > Right click on the game > Properties
- Paste “-force-d3d11” in the launch options box
- Relaunch the game.
Continue reading to find out.
Gotham Knights Best Game Settings
If you’re having performance issues with your computer, one of the first things you should check is your graphic settings. Sometimes, the default graphic settings can be too demanding for your computer, leading to choppy performance or even crashes. Adjusting your graphic settings can often improve performance without upgrading your hardware.
Here are the system settings that should work for low-end PCs:
Display Mode
There are only two options to choose from; Borderless Fullscreen or Windowed. Both are known for performance drops, so selecting the less evil option will make sense. Choose Borderless Fullscreen.
Display & GPU
If you have a two-monitor setup, then select your primary monitor. The GPU should be selected by default for most, but if not, make sure to choose your dedicated GPU.
Resolution
Select whatever your desktop’s native resolution is. For me, it is 2650×1440. However, 1920×1080 is the most used resolution (66% on Steam Survey).
Vsync
Vsync is used in gaming because it can help to eliminate screen tearing. Screen tearing occurs when the display updates at a rate different from the rate at which the graphics card sends data to it. This can cause visual artifacts, such as a scene being split in two. Vsync can help to reduce or eliminate this issue by ensuring that the display updates at the same rate as the graphics card.
If you are having screen tearing issues, turn this on.
Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, and HDR
These settings come down to personal preference and the monitor you use. Try adjusting them and find out what works best for you. I don’t recommend touching this setting if your game looks fine.
Upscaling Type and Quality
- DLSS Quality for Nvidia
- FSR Quality for AMD
Field of View
Personal preference.
Ray Tracing: Off
The game is not optimized at all at the moment. Turning RTX on will take away all the resources and wouldn’t even let you enjoy the game.
Ambient Occlusion: On
Ambient occlusion is a technique used in 3D rendering that helps to add realism to scenes by accounting for the way the environment attenuates light. You can turn this off if your game is unplayable.
Bloom: On
In gaming, bloom is a post-processing effect that makes a scene look more realistic by adding a glow effect to bright areas. You can leave this setting to on.
Chromatic Aberration: Off
This setting does not affect FPS. Leave it as it is.
Depth of Field: On
DOF creates the perception of greater depth. This is done by blurring objects located in the background or outside the focal point. This creates a sense of realism and immersion for the player.
Texture Quality: Medium or High
Texture Quality uses the VRAM of your GPU. If you have a GPU with sufficient VRAM, then you can use high; if not, medium is the way to go.
Shadows: Low or Medium
Shadows are known for putting a toll on GPUs, I would keep this at low.
Effects Quality: Medium
You can change this setting to low if you face FPS drops while multiple enemies are around.
Post Processing Quality: High
Post Processing makes the game look more realistic by adding lighting effects, shadows, and other details.
View Distance: Low or Medium
Higher view distance means the GPU has to process more assets and load them. This will affect your FPS a lot. Keeping this on Medium is recommended.
Environment Density: Low or Medium
This setting will affect the number of civilians and vehicles that will spawn while you are roaming in Gotham.
These are all the settings and what they do. I had to choose low for some settings because the game’s state is not good. However, it is playable, unlike the critics saying that the game is not playable at all.
The following section will cover a few more tweaks for optimizing the game to run better; continue reading.
Change Graphic Control Panel Panel Settings
Here are a few tweaks for both Nvidia and AMD Users that will provide an instant boost to your FPS in Gotham Knights:
For Nvidia Users:
- Open up Nvidia’s Control Panel. Right-click on desktop > click Nvidia control panel
- Click Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings
- Find “Gotham Knights” you can manually add the game if it’s not on the list
- Now, make the following changes:
Monitor Tech: G-Sync (If available)
Maximum Pre-rendered frames: 2
Threaded optimization: On
Power Management: Prefer Maximum Performance
Texture Filtering – Quality: Performance
Max Frame Rate: 60*
Low Lateny Mode: Low (High or Ultra makes sense only for PvP Games)
Setting Max Frame Rate to 60 will ensure your GPU doesn’t get hot. I have seen people on Reddit and Steam Forums reporting that their GPU temps are spiking up to 82°. Limiting FPS is a great way to minimize GPU load.
For AMD Users
- Anti-Aliasing Mode: Use Application settings
- Anti-aliasing Method: Multisampling
- Morphological Filtering: Off
- Anisotropic Filtering Mode: Use application settings
- Texture Filtering Quality: Performance
- Surface Format Optimization: On
- Wait for V-sync: Off
- OpenGL Triple Buffering: Off
- Shader Cache: AMD optimized
- Tesselation Mode: Override application settings
- Maximum Tesselation Level: Off
- GPU Workload: Graphics
- Chill: On*
- Frame Rate Target Control: Disabled
To lock FPS using AMD Radeon Control Panel, turn Radeon Chill on.
Changing the mentioned settings should increase your FPS a little; if you want more gains, continue reading for more traditional tweaks.
Update Your Device Drivers
Do you wonder why you should update your graphic card drivers? It would be good to check on the new updates for two key reasons. Firstly, it’s the only way to ensure you have the latest drivers for your device. The more recent drivers will allow your computer to run every graphics-intensive application and keep up with technological changes without trailing too far behind.
The game-ready Update Version 522.25 is already out for Nvidia GPU users.
Enable or Disable Game Mode in Windows 10
The new game mode makes gaming on your computer even better. Windows prioritizes its performance when playing a game in game mode and gives it more of the computer’s resources. The game will run faster and smoother, with less lag and interruptions. The game mode also ensures that your computer’s performance won’t be impacted when you’re not playing a game.
To enable game mode, go to Settings > Gaming > Game Mode. Turn this off or on one by one and compare the performance.
How to fix stuttering in Gotham Knights
Disable Microsoft Device Association Root Enumerator
This Microsoft service used to cause micro stutters in many games. To disable it:
- Launch Device Manager, and search for it using Windows Search
- Click on Software Devices to expand the list
- Locate “Microsoft Device Association Root Enumerator”> Right-click and disable it as shown in the screenshot below:
Move the game to SSD or faster HDD
A Reddit user reported constant stuttering in Gotham Knights; someone asked him for his specs, and it turns out the guy had an SSD for C Drive, but the game was installed on the 5400 RPM drive. The user had to move his game to the SSD, and the issue was fixed.
As technology continues to evolve, so does the need for better storage. Although hard drives have been around for a while, they are quickly replaced by solid-state drives due to their increased speed and decreased energy consumption. SSDs are more expensive than hard disks but offer many more benefits. On top of the increased speed, they also consume less power. This is a critical reason SSDs are used in many new devices, from smartphones to computers.
Close any memory-hogging applications
Open up the task manager and check your memory and disk usage. Close all applications (non-windows) that are eating your memory and using a disk drive. If you are still stuttering with everything looking fine, you should probably wait for the hotfix update, which should be pushed out shortly.
Several memory-hungry apps can cause high RAM usage in Windows. One of the most notorious offenders is Chrome. Even when minimized, Chrome can take up a lot of system resources. Firefox and Opera also tend to use more RAM than Edge. If you’re experiencing regular crashes or slowdowns, it might be time to check your app’s resource usage and see if any of your favorites are guilty parties.
Use Process Lasso to limit CPU usage.
Process Lasso is software that helps you limit the CPU usage of a particular app. Download the software and use it accordingly. I dropped my CPU usage by almost 20% after using the software. Also, try switching between hyperthreading on/off; this also dramatically improves FPS for some games.
These are all tweaks that can help you in increasing your FPS. The game isn’t optimized, that is true. I will wait for the devs to push an update before I try the game with High Settings.
My GPU was running at 78-82° if I wasn’t capping my FPS, so I decided to do it. On top of that, I am not running the game at max settings, even on my 3080 PC, as I get FPS Drops during combat. What’s the use of visuals if you can’t stay alive in action?
That’s all for fixing issues in Gotham Knights; if this guide helps you, let me know using the comment below.
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