Random Freezes with Gear Icon update 0.3.1 – Game Pauses for 20+ Seconds
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Hi GGG,
I’ve been experiencing frequent random freezes during gameplay. The game suddenly stops responding and shows the gear icon (loading spinner) for 20 seconds or more. After that, it resumes as if nothing happened. This issue occurs consistently across all areas — hideouts, campaign zones, and maps. It’s not tied to any specific skill, enemy, or location. I’ve tried monitoring system performance, but there’s no clear spike in CPU, GPU, or RAM usage when it happens. If you need any logs, system specs, or diagnostic data to investigate this further, please let me know the best way to share that with you. I’m happy to provide whatever is needed to help resolve this. Thanks in advance! Last bumped on Oct 6, 2025, 6:34:25 PM
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GGG discusses the NVIDIA driver crash here:
youtube.com/watch?t=6487&v=LtHF35GOZhw&feature=youtu.be tl;dr: GGG researched for months, concluded its NVidia driver issue in more-recent drivers, cannot get fix from NVidia. Specifically states a driver "around 560 doesn't have the issue" Download DDU: https://www.wagnardsoft.com/display-driver-uninstaller-ddu Download 560.81 drivers (this fixed it for me): https://www.guru3d.com/download/geforce-56081-whql-driver-download/ Find and "clear" your PoE2 shader cache folder in Windows. - "Clear" means delete all the subfolders and files in your shader cache directory but not the directory itself. - Where this folder is depends on if you use DX12 or Vulcan, and if you play via Steam or native. - For me, a Steam player using DX12, it's the folder called "ShaderCacheD3D12" in "C:\Users\(my name)\AppData\Roaming\Path of Exile 2" Research how to boot to Safe Mode in your Windows environment Boot Windows in Safe Mode Run DDU, uninstall current NVidia drivers Restart Windows in regular mode Install 560.81 drivers Start PoE2 Ignore driver out-of-date warning Your initial game performance will be slow as shader cache is rebuilt but this will go away over time Report back to us! Notes: - I'm not entirely sure if clearing the shader cache is necessary when changing Nvidia driver versions, but it can't hurt. - I've read DDU completely removes a current Nvidia driver, where the "clean install" feature of NVidia's own driver installation does not. AAgain, it can't hurt. |
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That video isn't about this issue ... im having this freezes too since last patch so i wouldn't blame nvidia here as i haven't been updating my drivers for past 2 patches as there was nothing interesting in them
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It absolutely is this issue.
The black screen and gears is the game creating a new device and re-loading your game session as Jonathan describes it. The pause and then resume is exactly what happens, just as Jonathan describes it. Moreover, GGG can't fix it themselves and they can't get NVidia to acknowledge it, and that's why it has persisted for months. Consistent and aligned. From my own experience, Jonathan says it started with drivers after "560 something" and here's my log Freeze and Gears: 566.36, 581.42, 576.88, 581.15, 581.08 No freeze, no gears - fixed! - 560.81 - exactly what Jonathan says will fix this issue. |
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How come that i didn't have it before 0.3.1 ? it started after it
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"I have the same question. |
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" Thx i was searching for this i throught they fixed the problem when 0.3.0 comes out. Because we had also a Nvidia driver update but the update made it worst. I try this out for couple hours. I replay with a update if this is the fix. iknow DDU and it is safe to use. And i remember aswell that Jonathan said go back to that version of driver. But why did they but in log in screen update driver. Than they better can say update driver if you have crashes. Last edited by Laroun#5594 on Oct 5, 2025, 4:53:14 PM
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" I find the whole situation to be mystifying. GGG says newer drivers have the issue but prompts you to update your drivers??? I count 30+ Nvidia updates and hotfixes since 560.81 and yet none solve this issue??? No other game has also encountered this issue and successfully worked with NVidia to get it fixed??? All I know: I went back to 560.81 and I've yet to have the black screen - grind gears - map exploration reset |
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people on chat suggested me to change DX12 to Vulkan and it sorted out the issue for me, looks like DX12 got screwed up after the 0.3.1
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" First - happy for ya! I have seen this suggestion and glad to hear it worked for you. Having said that, I've also seen people try this and get no relief, or just that it was less frequent. So - we need to keep on GGG and NVidia to get this straightened out. It's no fun to spend any percentage of my gaming time budget working on performance and crash issues. |
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