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Stuttering/freezing/locking up PC in loading screen

Nodaj
Nodaj
Normally, I have no issues running this game. I have tried everything that I know of to try to fix this issue. Nearly every time I enter a loading screen, the game locks up my PC and causes significant input lag, audio popping, and significantly longer loading times than normal (have waited nearly 10 minutes on some loads).
I have tried, disabling addons, reinstalling the game 2x, deleting the shader file, using process lasso to prioritize the game process. I am at my wits end on this issue. I now have 0 addons installed incase somehow they were still affecting my game's performance. I have a 4080/7800x3d/32 gb ddr5 ram, so my PC isn't limiting me here. I just want to be able to play the game and not spend half of my play session on my phone because I'm in a near infinite loading screen.
  • Nodaj
    Nodaj
    Also i might add: sometimes when i load a character, I will get booted back to the main menu for an error code 303, but that's the only error code I have seen and it's still kinda rare when it happens.
  • Nodaj
    Nodaj
    Also, this issue has been repeating since the u46 patch
  • ConnorRWS
    ConnorRWS
    Soul Shriven
    I just wanted to add that I'm also having this same issue.
    Starting with U46, I also get the same lock-up on loading screens. Tried without addons, complete reinstall, etc.
    At first, it seemed like it improved after a system restart, a full restart not shut-down and turn back on again. It seems like that was maybe a placebo however as I'm back to square one with no improvements.
    As with Nodaj above, my PC isn't the limit here either with an i7 9700K/16GB DDR5/4060. ESO is even installed on the NVMe.
    I've had loads that lock up my computer so bad that my PC things I've disconnected from the internet, and the game will kick me back to the launcher..
  • davapoole
    davapoole
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    i know you said you turned off your addons but were the libs on. also can remove the addons and saved variables folders put them on desktop and restart game shut down if running. it will put new ones in and see without any if its better. i also had it where it was my addons not loading quick enough years ago stopped me logging in. so without the addons and saved variables folders and see if that makes game work then if ok for a bit re load addons a few at a time
  • Nodaj
    Nodaj
    davapoole wrote: »
    i know you said you turned off your addons but were the libs on. also can remove the addons and saved variables folders put them on desktop and restart game shut down if running. it will put new ones in and see without any if its better. i also had it where it was my addons not loading quick enough years ago stopped me logging in. so without the addons and saved variables folders and see if that makes game work then if ok for a bit re load addons a few at a time

    yeah for good measure, I uninstalled all my addons and libs, so when I open the addons menu in game it's empty and off. still having the issue
  • Sarannah
    Sarannah
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    My reply from another thread may help you here, especially as the audio popping is one of the major issues with the latest nvidia drivers. Go read the nvidia forums for more information.
    The latest driver versions of the nividia display drivers are having some serious issues with the 50 and 40 series. Issues important enough where some gaming companies are even telling players with a 40 series GPU to only use the 566.36 nvidia driver version as that is the most recent and last stable one. Might be worth taking a look.
  • KZavi
    KZavi
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    Same issue as above. Really hope this gets looked at soon as the game is unplayable right now.
  • Nodaj
    Nodaj
    KZavi wrote: »
    Same issue as above. Really hope this gets looked at soon as the game is unplayable right now.

    Do you by chance have wallpaper engine running?? I just found that by having it completely off, I'm not running into any stuttering issues so far. I will update if I run into anything else!!!
  • ConnorRWS
    ConnorRWS
    Soul Shriven
    Nodaj wrote: »
    KZavi wrote: »
    Same issue as above. Really hope this gets looked at soon as the game is unplayable right now.

    Do you by chance have wallpaper engine running?? I just found that by having it completely off, I'm not running into any stuttering issues so far. I will update if I run into anything else!!!

    No wallpaper engine for me. Literally just hard crashed to desktop with the whole PC locked up.
  • Lupus_Hortian
    Lupus_Hortian
    Soul Shriven
    I have the same problem. I tried everything from newer or older NVidia driver, removing Windows Updates, running with no addons, stopping all other programs and services, setting compatibility settings etc., the situation is always the same
    • When I start the game the audio starts stuttering, due to 100% CPU load. This wasn't the case before the last patch and my system was capable of running the game in the highest settings before.
    • In the game I can slooowly move, but as soon as I move faster the game and audio starts stuttering again
    • With some characters you can easily force a system freeze (the one with this Carneval feathers) within some meters of running
    • I can "play" for 10-20 minutes and then the complete system freezes, so mouse, no keyboard, no Alt-Ctrl-Del
    • In some cases the game crashes after 5-7 minutes and I can use the computer as before, sometimes I have to hard reset the computer
    It would be nice if this get fixed on Monday with the upcoming patch.
    Edited by Lupus_Hortian on June 14, 2025 9:54PM
  • silky_soft
    silky_soft
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    Maybe download process lasso. Easy to see all at once process class, affinity, cpu usage, avg usage, memory being used.
    I have no will left to help with lag until high action per minute devs play via a vpn from Asia or Oceania to NA and live stream thier experience of thier actions being declined by the server because they are out of frame.
  • tbuch
    tbuch
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    I'm having similar problems. Been playing the game since release, and I've never had these kind of problems. It seems to be something with loading - the biggest problems are in loading screens, but even once I'm loaded in, going to a crowded area will cause similar problems (when it has to load all the player graphics).
  • silky_soft
    silky_soft
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    If you get process lasso and hwinfo to prove it's not your end. Then they'll have to actually address it. Launch the game from the exe, not the launcher. Chuck it in window mode full screen. Then you can alt tab to lasso with usage as the order filter and see what is going on.

    Sounds like a driver issue for gpu. Nvidia have had bad drivers for 3 months (low latency mode, screen capture or the need for ddu in safe mode, missing hdmi/dp ports).

    (Edit: turn off wifi or unplug then ddu in safe mode. Only turn wifi or network back on after install of drivers. Prevent windows being annoying.)

    Maybe power issue from cpu throttling itself, another program like razer app or rgb spamming cpu.

    With my 13700hx (12900k) I can reproduce the lock up like this by limiting the cpu affinity or putting them on ecore or turning off boost.
    Edited by silky_soft on June 16, 2025 10:13AM
    I have no will left to help with lag until high action per minute devs play via a vpn from Asia or Oceania to NA and live stream thier experience of thier actions being declined by the server because they are out of frame.
  • g0thiCiCecReaM
    g0thiCiCecReaM
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    My gf has been having performance issues mainly in just Alinor, textures are slow to load, fps drops to like 10, super laggy. Just started happening with the last update.
  • Masteroshi430
    Masteroshi430
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    Try this:
    If you have lag problems in ESO since a specific windows 11 update (24h2) (especially during loading screens and occasionaly in game), find you processor specs, it's number of cores and number of threads, open your ESO UserSettings.txt file and find these 3 settings:

    SET MaxCoresToUse.4
    -> here enter the number of cores for your processor multiplied by 3/4 (n*3/4) (round to the higher integer if the result is not an integer)
    SET RequestedNumJobThreads
    -> here enter the number of threads for your processor multiplied by 2/3 (n*2/3) (round to the higher integer if the result is not an integer)
    SET RequestedNumWorkerThreads
    -> here enter the number of threads for your processor multiplied by 2/3 (n*2/3) (round to the higher integer if the result is not an integer)

    It solved the lag problems for me, don't modify if you have no lag.
    Edited by Masteroshi430 on June 18, 2025 6:24PM
    @Masteroshi430 PC/EU (old French guy playing in English & addon author/maintainer) My addons
    Deshaan Honeydew Hors D'Oeuvre <<< FIX THAT TYPO GODDAMMIT!
  • OthellTemplar
    OthellTemplar
    Soul Shriven
    Same problem here since update 46. I
    have tested the processor, memory, and GPU. I rolled back to old drivers, tried a clean boot of Windows, and nothing works. The game suddenly hits 100% CPU usage and freezes, making the PC slow for a while, sometimes it locks up.
    If I wait about 5-6 minutes, the PC eventually recovers and the game crashes.
    I play other MMOs, but the problem is exclusive to ESO.
  • KZavi
    KZavi
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    UserSettings.ini edits indeed work, fantastic)
  • Yudo
    Yudo
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    Same, loading zones makes cpu go brrr and almost gets locked up each time.
    Tried disable multi threading or set affinity, but those rlly only avoid critical lockups. It is still bad.
  • Masteroshi430
    Masteroshi430
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    KZavi wrote: »
    UserSettings.ini edits indeed work, fantastic)
    Great, can others try and report?
    @Masteroshi430 PC/EU (old French guy playing in English & addon author/maintainer) My addons
    Deshaan Honeydew Hors D'Oeuvre <<< FIX THAT TYPO GODDAMMIT!
  • Nodaj
    Nodaj
    KZavi wrote: »
    UserSettings.ini edits indeed work, fantastic)
    Great, can others try to report?
    works for me too! all of my values were set to -1 by default. loading and running around the zone are much smoother experiences now. Thank you!

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