Solved [HELP] Game stuttering

[LittleForest]

New account.

First time player of Stardew tonight. Tried playing co-op with friends, then continued to troubleshoot single player. Brutal drops to 2-4 frames before bouncing back up to 60 every couple of minutes or so. Tried several different fixes found online including the CPU core affinity (fresh install, verifying local cache, etc. etc.). Nothing worked. I'm not sure what's going on but I'm pretty turned off the game at this point. Got 65 frustrating minutes in before I quit. Does not happen to any other game in my Steam library.

Any other suggestions? I want to like the game, but at this point I'm thinking I'm out.

Specs:
Intel i5-9600K @3.7
GTX1660Ti
32 GB HyperX at 2666

Ended up refunding. Sorry folks. Unable to fix the frame issues, even playing offline solo. Really wanted to play/like this one...quite disappointed.

 

[FartLord69]

For whatever reason the frame stuttering only happend when I play on my controller, I had to just play without it and I was fine. Nothing got to 100% usage or even above 90% in task manager so I don't really know what the problem was.

 

[Tullii]

Hello everyone. Sometimes when I open Stardew Valley I experience unbearable lag and I have tried the previously suggested solutions and they don't work. I have tried turning off CPU 0 and setting the priority of it in task manager to high but this doesn't fix the issue. I can confirm that I have a laptop capable of running it so I'm just a bit confused as to where I should go from here. I really love the game it's just really frustrating.

RTX3060
CPU: INTEL CORE i7
16 GB RAM

 

[ConcernedApe]

try this:

-open "device manager"
-expand the "display adapters" category
(You will probably have 2 devices listed, an integrated graphics unit (e.g. Intel UHD Graphics), and your dedicated graphics card (NVIDIA, etc.))
-right click the integrated graphics and hit "disable". Your screen might go dark for a moment, but then should come back up.
-re-enable the integrated graphics device.

Now try playing stardew again. If this doesn't work, you can try NOT re-enabling and see if that works, too.

I had this same issue when using a laptop and this worked for me. It's not a problem with Stardew specifically, it's some kind of hardware issue that I don't understand. Let me know if it helps.

 

[tabbwabb]

MAJOR UPDATE:

I have fixed my performance issue with the game. I went into task manager and set the game from normal to high priority. That fixed the freeze frame but it was still having a 5fps dip at the same internal that the freeze frames were occuring at.

Then I thought to myself that if I I go to set affinity and not allow the came to use the first core maybe it will fix my issue. Sure enough when I unchecked cpu 0, the game moved to running on the second core and now the game runs 100% smooth and locked at 61 fps.

I was experiencing the stutter issue as well. My game would hitch every couple frames and it was driving me nuts. I have a pretty beefy machine:
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 16-Core Processor @ 3.49 GHz
64.0 GB RAM
GeForce RTX 2060 Super

Unchecking CPU0 in the affinity settings completely fixed the issue for me and now I'm running smoothly. Thank you for posting this!

 

[Densetsu]

Okay I have some info I think might be relevant to this issue.

Just to give you my situation, I was having the same issue, and I personally was finding that setting the priority higher solved the issue temporarily, but setting the affinity away from Processor 0 did not. I went into the Stardew game settings and while fiddling with it I noticed that the problem goes away when I'm in fullscreen mode, without any other changes. The issue is, I thought I was loading into fullscreen mode, but I'm apparently loading into "Windowed Borderless". And when I go to select a different mode, the only other option is "Windowed". Until I select "Windowed", and change out of "Windowed Borderless" the option for "Fullscreen" never appears. I have a feeling this may be relevant to the issue at hand, as while I do have to switch to Windowed and then to Fullscreen every time I play, it clears up the issue neatly without me having to go into the task manager or device manager at all.

For now I'll just keep re-fullscreening every time I load up, but hopefully this helps the issue get addressed in a more general way.

 

[smasher125]

Okay I have some info I think might be relevant to this issue.

Just to give you my situation, I was having the same issue, and I personally was finding that setting the priority higher solved the issue temporarily, but setting the affinity away from Processor 0 did not. I went into the Stardew game settings and while fiddling with it I noticed that the problem goes away when I'm in fullscreen mode, without any other changes. The issue is, I thought I was loading into fullscreen mode, but I'm apparently loading into "Windowed Borderless". And when I go to select a different mode, the only other option is "Windowed". Until I select "Windowed", and change out of "Windowed Borderless" the option for "Fullscreen" never appears. I have a feeling this may be relevant to the issue at hand, as while I do have to switch to Windowed and then to Fullscreen every time I play, it clears up the issue neatly without me having to go into the task manager or device manager at all.

For now I'll just keep re-fullscreening every time I load up, but hopefully this helps the issue get addressed in a more general way.

this fixed most of the issue for me thank you! it stutters a tiny bit but it doesnt lag or freeze like it did and my game is heavly modded xD

 

[Densetsu]

More relevant info:

I found that in my case the only resolution under which this issue occurs is 1920x1080. If it's in Windowed, Windowed Borderless, or Fullscreen under this resolution, the issue seems to be happening. The issue for me is that's the only resolution I've found that doesn't chop off portions of the screen. :(

For now I'll keep poking and hope I find a way to change my external settings to maybe make one of the higher resolutions work. Hope any of this helps.

 

[The unknown Mutant]

The problem happens for me mostly around middle or end of summer in year 1, it stutters and it only plays with 1-5 FPS. I already tried every solution but the problem stays.
I play with the Beta version and with around 600 mods.

AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX with Radeon Graphics 3.30 GHz
64.0 GB RAM
GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU

 

[JukeInTheBox]

Having the same issue as well ever since the update, but I was having this issue on my laptop (which I played Stardew on a week and a half ago), but that went away after a little while in game. This doesn't seem to be going away, and none of the solutions (I have yet to try CA's) have worked so far. Idk if this is how it is for everyone else, but my game stutters for a second, sometimes every minute, sometimes many times per minute. It's very brief but also very jarring.

Also, I know it isn't my computer's specs, lol.
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-9820X CPU @ 3.30GHz, 3312 Mhz, 10 Core(s), 20 Logical Processor(s)
GPU: 2x NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Super
Memory: 32GB DDR5 RAM

 

[Hinatori]

Made an account to say I'm having similar issues. As of recently my game started to drop frames/stutter every so often, sometimes every couple seconds, sometimes every minute. It's not huge but I'm very sensitive to such things and I notice it every time it happens and it bothers me more than I would like to admit :(
I didn't have this problem before and there was no update on either Windows, Nvidea, Drivers etc which may have caused this, apart from the latest Stardew update. Tried a whole lot of things, including what is being mentioned here about settings the affinity and priority, repairing XNA, changing resolution from windowed to borderless to fullscreen.
What I also noticed, whenever I boot up Stardew, in borderless mode, he boots it in 3620 x 2036, even though my resolution is 2560 x 1440. I don't know if this has anything to do with it, seeing as I've never had this problem before with the lag/stuttering, but wanted to mention it anyway. Changing resolution is also not easy, as I first need to go to windowed mode, then to fullscreen which messes up my whole screen, then to some random resolution cause the 2560 x 1440 is then off the screen and I can't reach it, and then after that select the right resolution xD It's a bit of work haha.
I normally play with mods but even when I remove all the mods the problem is still there, also reinstalling the game did not fix it.
Also for me hardware is not the issue.

AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
32GB RAM
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080Ti

 

[JukeInTheBox]

Made an account to say I'm having similar issues. As of recently my game started to drop frames/stutter every so often, sometimes every couple seconds, sometimes every minute. It's not huge but I'm very sensitive to such things and I notice it every time it happens and it bothers me more than I would like to admit :(
I didn't have this problem before and there was no update on either Windows, Nvidea, Drivers etc which may have caused this, apart from the latest Stardew update. Tried a whole lot of things, including what is being mentioned here about settings the affinity and priority, repairing XNA, changing resolution from windowed to borderless to fullscreen.
What I also noticed, whenever I boot up Stardew, in borderless mode, he boots it in 3620 x 2036, even though my resolution is 2560 x 1440. I don't know if this has anything to do with it, seeing as I've never had this problem before with the lag/stuttering, but wanted to mention it anyway. Changing resolution is also not easy, as I first need to go to windowed mode, then to fullscreen which messes up my whole screen, then to some random resolution cause the 2560 x 1440 is then off the screen and I can't reach it, and then after that select the right resolution xD It's a bit of work haha.
I normally play with mods but even when I remove all the mods the problem is still there, also reinstalling the game did not fix it.
Also for me hardware is not the issue.

AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
32GB RAM
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080Ti

I have found so far that the issue goes away if you leave the game open for a bit, like 30 mins to an hour. Maybe a bit longer. Might not be a great fix, but I stop having the issue after that point.

 

[Hinatori]

I have found so far that the issue goes away if you leave the game open for a bit, like 30 mins to an hour. Maybe a bit longer. Might not be a great fix, but I stop having the issue after that point.

Unfortunately this also doesn't work for me, it's still there as often as well :( Thank you for the tip though!

 

[Hinatori]

Made an account to say I'm having similar issues. As of recently my game started to drop frames/stutter every so often, sometimes every couple seconds, sometimes every minute. It's not huge but I'm very sensitive to such things and I notice it every time it happens and it bothers me more than I would like to admit :(
I didn't have this problem before and there was no update on either Windows, Nvidea, Drivers etc which may have caused this, apart from the latest Stardew update. Tried a whole lot of things, including what is being mentioned here about settings the affinity and priority, repairing XNA, changing resolution from windowed to borderless to fullscreen.
What I also noticed, whenever I boot up Stardew, in borderless mode, he boots it in 3620 x 2036, even though my resolution is 2560 x 1440. I don't know if this has anything to do with it, seeing as I've never had this problem before with the lag/stuttering, but wanted to mention it anyway. Changing resolution is also not easy, as I first need to go to windowed mode, then to fullscreen which messes up my whole screen, then to some random resolution cause the 2560 x 1440 is then off the screen and I can't reach it, and then after that select the right resolution xD It's a bit of work haha.
I normally play with mods but even when I remove all the mods the problem is still there, also reinstalling the game did not fix it.
Also for me hardware is not the issue.

AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
32GB RAM
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3080Ti

After testing more and reinstalling my game again, removing SMAPI again, the problem seems to be gone. Installing SMAPI brings the problem back again. I asked a few friends who also have their games modded, and they have the same problem. So turns out it's SMAPI that gives the stutters/frame drops. Guess nothing I can do about it but wait for an update maybe of SMAPI. Atleast I know where the problem comes from now.

 

[The unknown Mutant]

After testing more and reinstalling my game again, removing SMAPI again, the problem seems to be gone. Installing SMAPI brings the problem back again. I asked a few friends who also have their games modded, and they have the same problem. So turns out it's SMAPI that gives the stutters/frame drops. Guess nothing I can do about it but wait for an update maybe of SMAPI. Atleast I know where the problem comes from now.

Hinatori, I think one of the problem is Content Patcher Animation, I put it out from my game and the stuttering isn't as bad as before.

 

[Sunshineisaway']

The frame drops to 5 at random points of the game, the music gets distorded and it becomes unbearable to play with. This happens both with my AMD E1-1200 and 16 gb ram laptop and my intel i5 with 8gb ram and nvidia graphic card. I've never had this sort of issue before, and it happens when I either try to play with or without mods.

 

[JukeInTheBox]

After testing more and reinstalling my game again, removing SMAPI again, the problem seems to be gone. Installing SMAPI brings the problem back again. I asked a few friends who also have their games modded, and they have the same problem. So turns out it's SMAPI that gives the stutters/frame drops. Guess nothing I can do about it but wait for an update maybe of SMAPI. Atleast I know where the problem comes from now.

I also have SMAPI and my solution worked, so I guess YMMV unfortunately.

 

[PapaVader]

Hello! I also made an account to say I have the same issue with unplayable amounts of stuttering and lag, which is weird because I'm running on a computer built for 4k video editing. The fix of unchecking CPU0 for the core affinity fixed it. It didn't matter if it was solo or co-op, because as soon as the game opened up I was getting horrible lag trying to navigate the main menu.

Edit: Also mentioning that every time I launch the game I have to re-do the CPU core affinity fix, because I load into the menu with instant lag every time and discover that all cores have been selected again.

Computer Specs:
Intel Core i9 9900k 3.6Ghz 8-Core Processor
MSI GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8GB VENTUS XS OC Video Card
G.Skill Trident Z 32GB DDR4-3200

there is a way to force affinity when you open the game without having to set it every time. Lookup “create shortcut to force affinity” and you should find out how to do it. It’s not too complicated if you follow the directions. Saves a little bit of time every time.

 

[sombrero]

try this:

-open "device manager"
-expand the "display adapters" category
(You will probably have 2 devices listed, an integrated graphics unit (e.g. Intel UHD Graphics), and your dedicated graphics card (NVIDIA, etc.))
-right click the integrated graphics and hit "disable". Your screen might go dark for a moment, but then should come back up.
-re-enable the integrated graphics device.

Now try playing stardew again. If this doesn't work, you can try NOT re-enabling and see if that works, too.

I had this same issue when using a laptop and this worked for me. It's not a problem with Stardew specifically, it's some kind of hardware issue that I don't understand. Let me know if it helps.

Hi, CA, it is good to connect with you after some years of playing your game. Since update 1.5, I have had this problem and nothing I have found anywhere fixes it. I play on an desktop computer that does not have integrated graphics, so the above solution does not work either. As others have mentioned, I play other games through steam none of which have this problem.

Further work with the affinity idea. I found a few places that mentioned that affinity won't make much difference for recent cpu's. Older cpu's can benefit though, I find. Yes, turning off cpu 0 works for me. SMAPI is the main process in task manager. Stardewvalley is a sub process. So, Stardewvalley is not included on the Details page of the task manager. Setting SMAPI is sufficient.

 

[MrPietro]

Same issues. Only have SMAPI installed and frames drops from 60 to 45 at about the same delays. Does it on menu or anywhere in the game. ITs so annoying. Nothing worked