Establish the current baseline

Confirm Steam has finished updating the game through Hotfix 10 and install the current stable graphics driver for the active GPU. Restart the game after the update so an older session is not being compared with the new files.

Hotfix 10 says it fixed the performance regression introduced by the previous hotfix and added further camera improvements. Treat that specific temporary regression as fixed in Hotfix 10, not as a permanent current-build issue.

Write down the symptom, where it appears and whether it begins immediately or after extended play. A repeatable comparison is more useful than changing several settings at once.

Original guide diagram

Troubleshooting path

flow

Isolate a Performance Symptom

Evidence keyOfficial recordCurrent guide actionEvidence boundary
  1. BaselineConfirm Update 8 plus Hotfix 10 first.
  2. ShadowsTest the official shadow-related option for low FPS.
  3. Texture / VRAMReduce settings if the documented symptom applies.
  4. GPU and reportRecord the active GPU, settings and repeatable scene.
A reportable sequence using only the performance checks and caveats documented in the current guide.Not an official in-game map or UI capture.

Test the official shadow option for low FPS

Update 8 reports improved performance on lower-end systems. Update 7 also added an option to disable shadows and described it as a significant performance improvement; test that setting when frame rate is the main problem, then compare the same area under the same conditions.

The announcement does not promise a specific frame-rate gain for any GPU. Keep the conclusion tied to your hardware and test scene rather than publishing a universal FPS number.

Put texture and VRAM symptoms in patch context

Update 6 says NerveLabs attempted a fix for texture-streaming problems on GPUs with 4 GB or 6 GB of VRAM. Hotfix 5 later listed a VRAM leak and texture fix together with performance improvements.

Update 8 says low-VRAM GPUs should be better protected from texture loss, while explicitly warning that texture loss may still be an issue at higher graphics settings. That is continued protection work, not proof that every texture symptom is gone.

Check which GPU is active

Hotfix 4 records an attempted fix for integrated-GPU selection. On a multi-GPU PC, verify which adapter is actually running the game before treating low performance as a settings failure.

Use the operating system or GPU vendor's current application settings to select the intended adapter. Menu names differ by driver version, so no fixed click path is presented as universal here.

Report a reproducible performance problem

  • Game state: Update 8 plus Hotfix 10.
  • Hardware: GPU model, VRAM amount, processor and memory.
  • Symptom: low frame rate, crash, texture loading problem or wrong-GPU use.
  • Test: exact area, duration and the one setting changed.
  • Result: whether restarting or disabling shadows changed the same scene.