Fix: Call of Duty Vanguard FPS Dropping Badly, Increase it

Call of Duty: Vanguard is a 2021 first-person shooter video game that has been developed by Sledgehammer Games and published by Activision, released in November 2021 for PC and other popular gaming consoles. It’s the 18th installment in the COD lineup that brings multiplayer, new campaigns, zombies, etc. But sadly players are reporting the Call of Duty Vanguard FPS Dropping Badly issue. If you’re also facing the same, you can try to increase it with this guide.

While playing the COD Vanguard game on every platform, it seems that there is a lot of frame drop occurring to the players along with lags and stutters whatsoever. It’s basically ruining the FPS gameplay experience by any means and if you’re one of the competitive FPS gamers or a content creator with a top-notch hardware configuration then it also becomes quite frustrating. That’s why here we’ve provided you with a couple of possible ways to fix it out.

Fix: Call of Duty Vanguard FPS Dropping Badly, Increase it

Talking about the frame rates dropping issue, the chances are high that your gaming configuration is though powerful enough to run the Call of Duty Vanguard title, some other possible factors are also playing a major role. Maybe your graphics driver is outdated, visual settings are set to high, not set in fullscreen window display mode, internet connection has some issues, overlay apps are running, not in the priority mode, etc can be other reasons.

Also Read: Fix: Call of Duty Vanguard Black Screen Issue on PC, PS5, PS4, or Xbox Consoles

So, you should follow all the methods below one by one until the problem gets fixed. Now, without wasting any more time, let’s jump into the guide below.

1. Reboot The Game

We’ll recommend you restart the COD Vanguard game on the PC to refresh the system and any temporary glitch whatsoever. Sometimes you may not find this workaround useful but you should try it at least once to check for the issue.

2. Close Unnecessary Tasks

Sometimes your Windows system may run multiple unnecessary tasks in the background that eventually consumes CPU & Memory resources unexpectedly. You should close those tasks completely to check whether the FPS count improves or not. To do so:

• Right-click on Taskbar > Click on Task Manager.
• Go to the Processes tab > Click on the unnecessary task.
• Select End Task to close it.
• You can do this individually for all the tasks that you don’t want to run in the background.

3. Change Your Power Plan

Mostly the power plan of your Windows computer may be set to the Balanced mode by default. In that scenario, the system may consume lower energy. Whereas it mostly reduces the PC performance when it comes to gaming or any intensive application running. You should change the power plan to High performance to improve the FPS count. To do so:

• Press Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
• Type control and hit Enter open Control Panel.
• Click on Hardware and Sound > Go to Power Options.
• Now, select High performance.

4. Update Graphics Driver

An outdated graphics driver can cause several performance-related issues with the game. It’s important enough to check for the graphics driver update and install it (if available). To do so:

• Press Windows + X keys to open the Quick Start Menu.
• Click on Device Manager > Double-click on Display adapters.
• Right-click on the graphics card > Select Update driver.
• Choose Search automatically for drivers.
• If there is an update available, it’ll automatically download and install the update.
• Once done, make sure to reboot your computer to apply changes.

5. Tweak In-game Graphics Settings

Make sure to adjust the in-game graphics or visual settings according to your preference and the PC configuration to check if that reduces the FPS drop issue or not. You should also lower down the FPS cap limit to 30/60 to cross-check the issue. You can also try enabling the V-Sync (Vertical Sync) from the in-game graphics settings. If you have already enabled it, try disabling it and check for the FPS improvement.

6. Disable SysMain Service on Windows

SysMain is one of the Windows 10 services that basically maintains and improves system performance over a period of time depending on the usage. Although it shouldn’t affect your CPU usage, it may cause the FPS dropping issue in some scenarios while playing hardcore FPS games. It’s recommended to disable the SysMain Service on the Windows PC that can increase FPS in Call of Duty: Vanguard. You can try disabling it by following the steps below:

• Click on the Start Menu icon > Type Services and click on it from the search result.
• Now, locate the SysMain Service > Double-click on it and select Stop.
• Once the service is stopped, you can restart the PC to check if that helps or not.
• If this doesn’t improve the FPS that much, make sure to enable it again.

7. Check your Internet Connection

Make sure to check your internet connection whether it’s running well or not. Having an unstable and poor internet connection can cause server connectivity issues and eventually you’ll start getting frame drops, lags, higher ping latency, etc. If in case, you’re not using a wired (ethernet) connection then switch the Wi-Fi connection to a wired one or vice versa to fix the issue.

8. Enable Hardware-accelerated GPU Scheduling

You should try enabling the Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling option on your Windows computer. To do so:

• Press the Windows + I keys to open Settings > Click on System.
• Select Display > Go to Graphics > Click on Change default graphic settings.
• Make sure to turn on Hardware-accelerated GPU Scheduling.
• Reboot the PC to apply changes.

9. Enable Game Mode

By enabling the Game Mode on your Windows computer, you’ll be able to boost your gaming performance. To do this:

• Press the Windows + I keys to open Settings.
• Go to Gaming > Turn on Game Mode.

10. Disable Control Flow Guard

By disabling it on your PC, you should be able to boost the FPS count and reduce lags or stutters straight away for the COD Vanguard game specifically. But don’t do it for all because it’ll leave your system at security risks. Control Flow Guard is an exploit protection feature.

11. Whitelist Control Flow Guard

Make sure to whitelist the Control Flow Guard on your PC by following the steps below.

• Click on the Search menu > Search for ‘Virus & threat protection’ and open it.
• Go to ‘Apps & browser control’ > Click on ‘Exploit Protection Settings’.
• Make sure to turn on ‘Program Settings’ > Click on the plus icon to ‘Add porgram to customize’.
• Now, you’ll need to choose ‘Add by program name’ > Paste the ‘exact executable name’.
• Scroll to the new window to find out Control Flow Guard (CFG) and check Override system settings.
• Finally, click on Apply and click on Yes to save changes.

12. Set Higher Priority

You’ll need to set the COD Vanguard game executable at High Priority by following the steps below to run it on the system properly. To do it:

• Press the Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys to open Task Manager.
• Click on More Details > Click on Details > Right-click on the Vanguard.exe file.
• Make sure to click on Set Priority and select High from the list.
• Now, you can try launching the Call of Duty: Vanguard game to check whether it’s FPS still dropping or not.

13. Disable Overlay apps

Sometimes overlay applications can cause several issues whatsoever that basically run in the background while playing games and reduce system performance. So, it’s always better to disable overlay apps completely to check for the issue further. To do this:

Disable Discord Overlay:

• Open the Discord app > Click on the gear icon at the bottom.
• Click on Overlay under App Settings > Turn on the Enable in-game overlay.
• Click on the Games tab > Select Call of Duty: Vanguard.
• Finally, turn off the Enable in-game overlay toggle.
• Make sure to reboot your PC to apply changes.

Disable Xbox Game Bar:

• Press Windows + I keys to open Windows Settings.
• Click on Gaming > Go to Game Bar > Turn off the Record game clips, screenshots, and broadcast using Game bar option.

If in case, you’re unable to find out the Game Bar option then just search for it from the Windows Settings menu.

Disable Nvidia GeForce Experience Overlay:

• Open the Nvidia GeForce Experience app > Head over to Settings.
• Click on the General tab > Disable the In-Game Overlay option.
• Finally, restart the PC to apply changes.

That’s guys. We hope this guide was helpful to you. For additional queries, let us know in the comment below.