After experiencing a YEAR of frustrating freezes, stuttering and FPS drops, I completely fixed it all using the procedures below.
My OS is Windows 11. My graphics card is a Nvidia GTX 1080ti and I run near movie graphics settings, easily run DX 12 with the dropdown at max resolution and the new fancy antialiasing for improved visual clarity. My FPS is usually 150 on a 1080p 60HZ TV. Freezes, stutters, FPS drops are GONE.
This process may seem excessive but, each step accomplishes a useful purpose and, although I offer NO PROMISES, this has consistently produced amazing results for me and I believe it creates the best opportunity to run War Thunder smoothly.
phase one:
Find your War Thunder folder (typically inside C drive / Program Files folder), open the War Thunder folder and CAREFULLY delete ONLY the folders marked cache and compiledShaders. War Thunder launcher will automatically replace them with new, clean folders.
-1 Start War Thunder launcher.
-2 Click the launcher wrench icon then click button marked “Check Files” & run to completion.
-3 Restart PC.
-4 Launch War Thunder, log on and test.
phase two, deep dive: graphics driver repair & restore (the theory being that graphics driver function can be impaired by corrupted code remnants or maybe even “bad monkeys”).
-1 download & install free app Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) from guru3D which I’ve found to be vastly more effective than Nvidia App “clean install”. It’s CRITICAL that you follow DDU instructions!
-2 Before launching DDU, download your appropriate graphics driver and have it handy on the desktop so it’s easy to find when Safe Mode temporarily makes your screen look distorted.
-3 Boot PC into Safe Mode as suggested by DDU app. (I’m already cutting a lot of your steak, friend. Learn how to boot to Safe Mode on the internetz.)
-4 Launch (DDU) & choose button titled “clean & restart”. IGNORE the big yellow button titled “update all drivers”. That’s a sponsor link.
-5 After PC restart, install your fresh driver & restart PC again.
-6 Launch War Thunder, log on and test.
Share your results using a comment on this post so others can learn from your experience.
Best wishes, riddler