Performance Issue Fortnite

Fortnite Lobby Stuttering on New PC - Performance Fix Guide

📅 Published: 2026-02-06 🔄 Updated: 2026-02-06 👥 Reports: 12 ⚡ Severity: 🟡 Medium

🎯 Quick Answer

Cap your in-game FPS in the lobby to 60 or 120 and ensure your NVIDIA graphics drivers are updated to resolve the stuttering during emotes.

SECTION 1: OVERVIEW

The error is a performance degradation event characterized by severe frame rate stuttering and latency spikes during specific non-gameplay actions. This issue manifests exclusively on the Windows platform. The problem occurs in Fortnite Chapter 5, Season 4, and subsequent updates following a specific game patch. This is a common performance anomaly. The severity is classified as a major annoyance, causing disruptive frame drops that impair menu navigation but do not cause application termination. No formal error codes are generated; the failure mode is purely performance-based, evidenced by a drastic reduction in frames per second (FPS) and increased frame times.

SECTION 2: SYMPTOMS

The application experiences a sudden and severe performance drop when the player executes an emote within the game's lobby interface. The frame rate plummets from a stable high value, often above 144 FPS, to approximately 30 FPS or lower. This stuttering event lasts for approximately two seconds before performance normalizes. Concurrently, the system exhibits increased input latency. The error does not occur during standard battle royale gameplay or creative mode sessions. The visual output is characterized by frozen or skipping frames during the emote animation's initial playback in the lobby environment.

SECTION 3: COMMON CAUSES

Category: Game Bug

Specific technical explanation: The game client fails to properly manage asset streaming and animation blending when triggering high-fidelity emote animations in the GPU memory-constrained lobby environment. This causes a pipeline stall. Why this causes the problem: The lobby loads numerous player models and cosmetics, and triggering a new, detailed emote forces an unoptimized real-time load, creating a CPU/GPU bottleneck.

Category: Configuration Error

Specific technical explanation: An uncapped or excessively high frame rate limit in the lobby forces the GPU to render at maximum capacity, leaving no overhead for the sudden asset load required by an emote, resulting in a performance cliff. Why this causes the problem: The rendering thread becomes saturated, and the new data load for the emote causes contention, leading to dropped frames.

Category: Software Conflict

Specific technical explanation: Outdated or corrupted NVIDIA Display Driver components, particularly the shader cache module, conflict with Fortnite's Performance Mode rendering pipeline. Why this causes the problem: Inefficient shader compilation during new animation playback causes the GPU to wait for necessary instructions, manifesting as stutter.

Category: Configuration Error

Specific technical explanation: The DirectX 12 API is selected while the system's shader cache is incomplete or the driver's Shader Cache size is insufficient for Fortnite's asset library. Why this causes the problem: Each new emote animation requires compiling and caching shaders on-the-fly, which is a blocking operation that halts the render thread.

Category: Hardware Issue

Specific technical explanation: System RAM or GPU VRAM is undergoing aggressive power state changes during low-intensity lobby rendering, failing to ramp up performance quickly enough for the emote load. Why this causes the problem: The power management latency introduces a delay when the hardware is suddenly tasked with processing complex animations.

SECTION 4: SOLUTIONS

Solution 1: Configure Lobby FPS Limit

Difficulty: Easy Time Required: 2 minutes Success Rate: High Prerequisites: None Steps:

Launch Fortnite and navigate to the main menu.
Open the Settings menu by pressing the Escape key and clicking the gear icon, or via the three-line menu in the top right.
Navigate to the Video Settings tab.
Scroll to the Frame Rate Limit section.
Locate the Lobby Frame Rate Limit setting.
Set this value to 60 FPS or 120 FPS.
Apply the settings and return to the lobby.

Technical Explanation: This creates significant GPU rendering headroom. By limiting the lobby FPS, the GPU is not operating at maximum utilization, allowing immediate resources to be allocated for compiling and rendering the new emote assets without causing a pipeline stall. Verification: Execute multiple different emotes in the lobby. The frame rate should remain stable at or near the newly set cap (60/120 FPS) without dropping to 30 FPS.

Solution 2: Update NVIDIA Graphics Drivers

Difficulty: Easy Time Required: 5 minutes Success Rate: High Prerequisites: Administrator privileges Steps:

Press Win + R, type devmgmt.msc, and press Enter to open Device Manager.
Expand the Display adapters section.
Right-click your NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 and select Properties. Note the current Driver Version on the Driver tab.
Visit the official [NVIDIA Driver Download page](https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx).
Select your product series (GeForce RTX 50 Series), product (GeForce RTX 5060), and operating system. Click Search.
Download the latest Game Ready Driver (version 555.xx or higher).
Run the installer. Select Custom installation and check the box for Perform a clean installation.
Complete the installation and restart your computer.

Technical Explanation: Clean installation of the latest Game Ready Driver replaces corrupted files, ensures optimal shader cache management for Fortnite, and applies any performance profiles specific to new GPU architectures like the RTX 50 series. Verification: Confirm the new driver version in NVIDIA Control Panel under System Information or via Device Manager. The version should be 555.xx or higher.

Solution 3: Switch to DirectX 12 Rendering Mode

Difficulty: Medium Time Required: 3 minutes Success Rate: Medium Prerequisites: None Steps:

In Fortnite, open the Settings menu.
Navigate to the Video Settings tab.
Locate the Rendering Mode setting.
Change the mode from Performance to DirectX 12.
A warning will appear stating the game must restart. Accept and let the game close.
Relaunch Fortnite. The first match will involve shader compilation, which may cause stuttering. Play one full match to allow the cache to build.

Technical Explanation: DirectX 12 provides more efficient CPU multi-threading and advanced rendering features. While Performance Mode uses a custom renderer, DX12 offers a more stable and mature pipeline on new hardware, often handling complex scene transitions (like emote loading) more gracefully. Verification: After one match, return to the lobby. The emote stuttering should be reduced or eliminated as the DX12 shader cache is now populated.

Solution 4: Adjust NVIDIA Control Panel 3D Settings

Difficulty: Medium Time Required: 4 minutes Prerequisites: None Steps:

Right-click the Windows desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel.
Navigate to Manage 3D settings on the left.
Click the Program Settings tab.
Select Fortnite from the dropdown list. If it is not listed, click Add and browse to C:\Program Files\Epic Games\Fortnite\FortniteGame\Binaries\Win64\FortniteClient-Win64-Shipping.exe.
Modify the following settings:

* Power Management Mode: Prefer maximum performance * Shader Cache Size: Driver default (or increase to 10 GB if option exists) * Vertical sync: Off (unless using in-game cap) * Background Application Max Frame Rate: Off

Click Apply.

Technical Explanation: "Prefer maximum performance" prevents the GPU from downclocking in the lobby, eliminating power state transition latency. Configuring a sufficient Shader Cache Size prevents the need for repeated, on-demand shader compilation during emote playback. Verification: The changes are applied immediately. Test emotes in the lobby for improved consistency.

Solution 5: Verify Game File Integrity

Difficulty: Easy Time Required: 5-10 minutes Success Rate: Medium Prerequisites: None Steps:

Open the Epic Games Launcher.
Click your library icon on the left sidebar.
Locate Fortnite and click the three dots (...) below the game title.
Select Manage.
Click the Verify button next to "Verify Files".
The launcher will scan and repair any missing or corrupted game files. Do not interrupt this process.

Technical Explanation: Corrupted animation files (.uemap, .uasset) or configuration files related to the lobby environment can cause inefficient asset loading. Verification replaces these files with clean versions from Epic's servers. Verification: The launcher will display a "Verification complete" message. Launch the game and test the emote functionality.

Solution 6: Disable Full-Screen Optimizations for Fortnite

Difficulty: Advanced Time Required: 3 minutes Success Rate: Low Prerequisites: Administrator privileges Steps:

Navigate to the Fortnite executable: C:\Program Files\Epic Games\Fortnite\FortniteGame\Binaries\Win64\.
Right-click on FortniteClient-Win64-Shipping.exe.
Select Properties.
Navigate to the Compatibility tab.
Check the box for Disable full-screen optimizations.
Click Apply, then OK.
Repeat these steps for the Epic Games Launcher executable if issues persist.

Technical Explanation: This Windows feature can interfere with exclusive full-screen rendering, causing desktop composition to introduce latency during rapid scene changes, such as triggering an emote animation. Verification: Launch the game. The setting is passive; verification is performed by testing emote performance.

SECTION 5: PREVENTION

Maintain a regular driver update schedule, checking for NVIDIA Game Ready Drivers monthly or when major game updates release. Consistently use the in-game FPS limiter for the lobby and menu states. After every major Fortnite update, allow one complete match in your preferred rendering mode (DX12 or Performance) to rebuild the shader cache before assessing performance. Periodically clear the DirectX Shader Cache via Windows Disk Cleanup (cleanmgr.exe) to prevent corruption, which will regenerate upon next launch. Monitor GPU driver release notes for specific Fortnite performance fixes.

SECTION 6: WHEN TO CONTACT SUPPORT

Contact Epic Games Player Support if all documented solutions fail and the stuttering occurs across all game modes, not just the lobby. Prior to contact, gather the following diagnostic information: the FortniteGame.log file located in %LOCALAPPDATA%\FortniteGame\Saved\Logs, and a complete DxDiag report (run dxdiag and save all information). Provide your full system specifications, including the exact driver version. Official support channels are accessible via the [Epic Games Help page](https://www.epicgames.com/help/en-US/).