Forza Horizon 4 is one of the best racing games that allows you to compete fiercely with other racers. But when playing games on a Windows PC, you may experience shutdown and low FPS issues. Both of these issues are caused by incorrect settings in the game and corruption of system files.
However, it is also easy to solve this problem. You can try the solutions below and you should be able to get rid of this problem forever.
1. Disable the Game Bar
Game Bar is a graphical interface that helps you record gameplay, take screenshots, and save clips. However, the application needs to consume a lot of system resources to do these things.
Therefore, if you don’t care too much about recording gameplay, you can consider disabling this feature in order to get a better FPS in your game. You can do it by following the steps below:
1. Open the settings menu using one of the many ways to open the settings menu.
2. Select the game from the left pane.
3. Tap the Xbox Game Bar option.
4. Turn off the toggle button next to “Enable Xbox Game Bar”.
Next, restart the game and check if you are still facing this issue.
2. Download the latest graphics driver update
A graphics driver, also known as GPU or video card, allows the OS and applications to use the system graphics hardware. To play graphics-centric games like Forza Horizon 4, you must download the latest computer graphics drivers to get the best performance from the hardware.
You can download the latest graphics driver update by following the below steps.
1. Press the Win + X hotkey and select Device Manager from the context menu.
2. Double-click Display Adapters.
3. Right-click the installed graphics driver and select Update Driver from the context menu.
4. Click Search for drivers automatically.
Now, wait until the update process is complete. Once done, reboot the system and check for problems.
3. Close all memory-consuming apps
One of the main reasons behind the low FPS and stuttering issues in any game is the application running in the background. As it turns out, these applications take up a lot of system resources.
After closing all of these programs, the system will reallocate memory to the game, which will automatically improve its performance. You can close all unnecessary background programs with the help of the Task Manager. Here’s how:
1. Use the Ctrl+Shift+Esc hotkeys to open Task Manager.
2. In the “Processes” tab, right-click on all memory-consuming applications, such as Microsoft Edge, and select End Task.
4. Defragment the HDD
For a faster and smoother experience on a Windows PC, upgrading to a solid-state drive (SSD) is a great option. But if you don’t have the money to upgrade, make sure to defragment your HDD.
Here are the steps to defragment your hard drive:
1. Press the Win key to open the Start menu.
2. Enter defrag and press Enter.
3. Right-click on the disk drive and select Optimize.
Wait until the process is complete. You can even schedule the defragmentation process. By doing so, the driver will analyze and optimize at the pace of the schedule.
5. Change the power options
Windows allows you to change your power options depending on your machine’s energy consumption. By default, the power setting is set in balanced mode, giving equal weight to performance and battery. But to play a graphics-oriented game like Forza Horizon 4, it’s best to switch to the best performance plan. Here’s how to do it:
1. Turn on the settings > power and battery.
2. Click the drop-down icon next to the power mode to select the best performance from the menu.
6. Change the in-game settings
As a modern game, Forza Horizon 4 offers many options to improve graphics quality and get a realistic gaming experience. But using a high setting on a low-end PC can have a detrimental effect on overall game performance.
So, for a better FPS and to eliminate stuttering issues, consider playing the game at a lower setting. Here are the changes you need to make.
Dynamic Optimization – On
Dynamic Render Quality – Medium
FPS – Choose as per the refresh rate of the monitor.
Vertical Synchronization – Off
Full Screen – On
Next, switch to Advanced Settings and make the following modifications.
Night Shadow – Off
Shadow Quality – Low
Motion Blur Quality – Normal
Environment Texture Quality – Normal
Static Geometry Quality – Medium
Dynamic Geometry Quality – Medium
MSAA – 2X
FXAA – Off
Shader Quality – Medium
Particle Effects Quality – Medium
Lens Effect – Medium
SSR Quality – Medium
Mirror Quality – High
Reflection Quality – Medium
7. Repair the game files
Forza Horizon 4 files can get corrupted or missing due to various reasons. And when that happens, you’ll experience problems with shutdown and low FPS in the game. As a solution, you have to fix the game files. You can use Steam’s built-in repair tool to do it.
Here are the specific steps you need to follow:
1. Open the Steam client.
2. Switch to the Library tab.
3. Right-click OnZa Horizon 4 and select Properties in the context menu.
4. Select Local Files from the left pane.
5. Click Verify integrity of the game files.
Now, Steam will look for and replace the corrupted game files.
8. Run the game with a dedicated graphics card
It’s obvious to face shuttering and low FPS issues on Forza Horizon 4 if it runs on integrated graphics instead of a dedicated GPU. You have to run the game on a dedicated GPU to solve this problem. Here’s how to do it:
1. Open the Nvidia Control Panel.
2. Select 3D Settings from the left pane > Manage 3D Settings.
3. Switch to Program Settings.
4. Click Add.
5. Select Forza Horizon 4 from the list and select Add Selected Program.
6. Click the drop-down icon under “Select your preferred graphics processor for this program” to select a high-performance NVIDIA processor.
7. Click on Apply.
Now, launch the game and you will find that you are getting relatively good performance in the game.
Experience the best of Forza Horizon 4
These are all fixes that were made to eliminate stuttering and low FPS issues on Forza Horizon 4. But if you still face this problem, consider reinstalling the game as a last resort.
