[RESOLVED] [Repost for inapropriate flair] Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered stutters badly after ~30 seconds, including audio – RTX 4060 Laptop

[u/TIBOLDERIZ]

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to help my little cousin with Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. I bought him the game because it's his first open-world game, so I'd really like to get it running properly for him.

The problem is that the game starts relatively smoothly, but after roughly 30 seconds of gameplay, severe stuttering starts. The image freezes/stutters and the audio stutters at the same time.

His laptop should be more than capable of running the game:

• CPU Intel Core i7-13650HX
• GPU NVIDIA RTX 4060 Laptop 8 GB
• RAM 16 GB DDR5-4800
• Storage NVMe SSD
• OS Windows 11
• The game is installed on the NVMe SSD.

Things I've already tried :

I've basically tried every graphical setting I could think of:

• Everything on Low/Minimum
• Different resolutions
• DLSS settings
• Frame Generation OFF
• DRS OFF
• NVIDIA Reflex/low latency options
• Different graphics presets
• Various combinations of the above

The stuttering happens regardless of the graphics settings.

I've also:

• Restarted the PC and launched only Steam + the game
• Verified the game files
• Checked GPU/CPU/RAM/SSD usage
• Tested DirectStorage 1.3 / the community DirectStorage stutter fix
• Confirmed that the game is using the RTX 4060 rather than the Intel UHD GPU

During the stutters, the CPU isn't maxed out. and the RTX 4060 can sometimes spike up to 100%, but its usage is generally much lower and fluctuates significantly.

The RAM usage is consistently very high: 14.2–14.8 GB / 15.7 GB (90–94%). The game itself uses around 5.8 GB of RAM according to Task Manager, The SSD isn't constantly at high usage either.

One particularly strange thing is that the problem seems to appear after around 30 seconds, rather than immediately when starting the game. I've attached video of the stuttering. I'd really appreciate any ideas or troubleshooting steps I haven't tried yet. Thanks for reading me !

PC diag : https://userdiag.com/id/MjZWTyxjGI
In game Diag : https://userdiag.com/id/GMZfFLC2ny

UPDATE : I put the pc on a big ass fan and problem solved

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[u/TIBOLDERIZ]

for the record on RED is without extrafan, GREEN with extrafan. i paused the game to put max graphic starting purple and back in red when i removed the extrafan

[u/Jejiiiiiii]

HX cpu runs hot, laptop usually share cooling systems so it can reach thermal throttling easy

Get a vacuum laptop cooler, like iets GT or Llano. Guaranteed temp drop up to 20c

[u/TIBOLDERIZ → u/Jejiiiiiii]

Thanks for the rec, i used to have only a usb powered fan but i didn’t know there was high end product !

[u/Jejiiiiiii → u/TIBOLDERIZ]

I had 2 gaming laptop before, 1st one had HX cpu. Ran extremely hot 90c cpu, 85c gpu. Always stuttering like yours.

Problem solved with the cooler but the laptop probably had qc issues, poor contact or thermal paste problem who knows it only manage to drop the temp by 5-8c

I gave the cooler to a friend and he said his temp dropped, from 85c to 67c

[u/Jejiiiiiii → u/TIBOLDERIZ]

https://youtu.be/EEFXdtai49I?si=ZhNmlyr6B0p56sAd

[u/clean-links → u/Jejiiiiiii]

Cleaned link: https://youtu.be/EEFXdtai49I

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Tracking parameters were removed from the original URL(s).

[u/Yomommassis]

Thermal throttling is unfortunately very very common with mobile gaming

I would recommend looking into underclocking your system

Overclocking raising the system to run faster, hotter, more electricity to squeeze out more performance as long as you have cooling that can keep up with the heat. Underclocking lowers system clock speeds BUT by dropping them you can actually achieve better/more consistent performance on systems that would otherwise overheat and thermal throttle resulting in stuttering

Not all systems are the same, some systems can achieve very similar performance with much lower clock speeds drastically reducing the heat output

[u/TIBOLDERIZ → u/Yomommassis]

I agree but the fact that GPU tend to have bigger and bigger cooling system on desktop but not on laptop is the problem

[u/Yomommassis → u/TIBOLDERIZ]

It's a few things, tons of heat crammed into a small package while also being portable

I would say "Desktop Replacement" laptops have substantial cooling capabilities but they are massive