Hearts of Iron IV – Lags, stuttering issues and low FPS – fix it!

Having issues with lag, delays, low FPS, and stuttering in Hearts of Iron IV? It can be very annoying, we all want to play smoothly in Hearts of Iron IV, regardless of the situation. You can improve your gameplay experience and frame rate with a few simple steps. Sometimes it can be the fault of poor optimization or game code – if the steps below do not help, check if more players are not having similar problems as you (e.g. in the Hearts of Iron IV Steam community forum).

Download update / patch

Make sure you have the latest version of Hearts of Iron IV. If the problem is in the optimization of the game or its code – you will not do anything about it except make sure that you have the latest version of the game. If you are sure that you have the latest version of the game, check the next steps below to fix your Hearts of Iron IV problem. You can download updates by simply launching Hearts of Iron IV if you have it on platforms such as Steam. If you have a physical copy of the game or an installer copy of the game, check the Hearts of Iron IV publisher/developer website for a patch.

Drivers update

An important element in your PC are the drivers for specific components that are responsible for the correct operation of your computer parts – for example, outdated graphic drivers may not be able to cope with newer technologies used by game developers and therefore your game is not smooth. Updating your drivers can fix your Hearts of Iron IV game issues. Don’t worry, if you can’t update drivers manually or don’t know where to find such drivers, you can use a program that will scan your computer and download the latest drivers and install them – it’s a free tool that millions of people around the world have chosen. See our recommended program for automatic driver installation – click here.

Adjust graphics settings

Sometimes the easiest way to get rid of problems is to adjust the graphics settings in Hearts of Iron IV – try lowering the graphics settings even if you think that high graphics settings are not a challenge for your computer and you meet the recommended hardware requirements – remember that the game may be poorly optimized.

Set game to High Priority

This method causes your operating system to allocate more resources to Hearts of Iron IV that are marked as High Priority – this can significantly improve your gaming experience and give more FPS in Hearts of Iron IV. To set the game to high priority:

1. 1. Open Hearts of Iron IV
   2. While in-game, open Task Manager (press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC at the same time)
   3. Go to the Details tab and find the main process of the game.
   4. Right-click on Hearts of Iron IV and hover your mouse to Set Priority then choose High. Restart the game and see if there’s an FPS improvement.

Disable Steam Overlay

The Steam overlay consumes some resources from your computer and can have a significant impact on CPU, GPU, and RAM usage. Temporarily disable the Steam overlay to see if this solves your performance issues. How to disable the Steam Overlay:

1. 1. Open Steam and go to Library
   2. Right-click on Hearts of Iron IV and click Properties
   3. In the GENERAL tab, Uncheck the Enable Steam Overlay while in-game
   4. Re-launch the game and see if you achieve more FPS.

Clean up your computer

Cleaning your computer can improve its performance – too many files and too little disk space can cause performance problems. Check your computer for viruses, and unused programs that may be running in the background. Clean your computer physically – if your computer has a lot of dust inside, it can cause your graphics card or processor to run hotter, which can cause performance issues.