Why Does Tarkov Keep Crashing My PC? A Comprehensive Guide

Tarkov crashing on your PC can be incredibly frustrating, interrupting intense raids and potentially costing you valuable loot. There are numerous reasons why this might be happening, ranging from hardware limitations to software conflicts and even in-game settings. This comprehensive guide explores the common culprits and provides solutions to get you back into the action.

1. Insufficient System Resources

Escape from Tarkov is a demanding game, and it requires a decent amount of processing power, memory, and graphical capability to run smoothly. If your PC doesn’t meet the minimum or recommended specifications, crashes are likely.

Minimum System Requirements:

  • CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo/AMD Athlon 64 X2
  • RAM: 8 GB
  • Graphics Card: DX11 compatible with 1 GB VRAM
  • Operating System: Windows 7/8/10 64-bit
  • Network: Persistent internet connection
  • Disk Space: 20 GB
  • CPU: Intel Core i5/AMD Ryzen 5 or better
  • RAM: 16 GB or more
  • Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060/AMD Radeon RX 580 or better with 4 GB VRAM
  • Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit
  • Network: Persistent internet connection
  • Disk Space: 20 GB

Solutions:

  • Upgrade your hardware: The most direct solution is to upgrade components like your RAM, CPU, or graphics card. Prioritize RAM and graphics card upgrades if you’re on a tight budget.
  • Close unnecessary applications: Before launching Tarkov, close all other programs running in the background, including web browsers, streaming services, and other games. These programs consume system resources that Tarkov needs.
  • Lower in-game graphics settings: Reduce the graphics settings within Tarkov to ease the load on your system. Lowering texture quality, shadow quality, and draw distance can significantly improve performance and reduce crashes.

2. Driver Issues

Outdated or corrupted graphics drivers are a frequent cause of game crashes. Drivers are the software that allows your operating system to communicate with your hardware.

Solutions:

  • Update your graphics drivers: Visit the NVIDIA or AMD website (depending on your graphics card) and download the latest drivers. A clean install is recommended, which removes the old drivers entirely before installing the new ones.
  • Roll back drivers: If you recently updated your drivers and the crashing started afterwards, try rolling back to a previous version. The latest drivers aren’t always the best, and older drivers are sometimes more stable.

3. Overheating

When your CPU or GPU gets too hot, it can lead to instability and crashes. Overheating is often caused by poor ventilation, a malfunctioning cooler, or excessive overclocking.

Solutions:

  • Monitor your temperatures: Use monitoring software like MSI Afterburner or HWMonitor to track your CPU and GPU temperatures while playing Tarkov. If they consistently exceed safe levels (typically above 80°C for CPUs and GPUs), you have an overheating problem.
  • Improve ventilation: Ensure your PC case has adequate airflow. Clean dust from your fans and vents regularly. Consider adding additional case fans to improve cooling.
  • Reapply thermal paste: Over time, the thermal paste between your CPU/GPU and their coolers can dry out, reducing its effectiveness. Reapplying fresh thermal paste can significantly improve cooling.
  • Reduce overclocking: If you’ve overclocked your CPU or GPU, try reducing the clock speeds to their stock settings. Overclocking increases heat output.

4. Game File Corruption

Corrupted game files can cause crashes and other issues. This can happen due to incomplete downloads, disk errors, or software conflicts.

Solutions:

  • Verify game files: Most game launchers (including the Battlestate Games Launcher) have a feature to verify the integrity of game files. This will check for corrupted or missing files and redownload them.
  • Reinstall Tarkov: If verifying the game files doesn’t solve the problem, try reinstalling Tarkov completely. This will ensure that you have a fresh, clean installation of the game.

5. Software Conflicts

Conflicts with other software on your system can also cause Tarkov to crash. This is especially common with antivirus software, overlays, and other background applications.

Solutions:

  • Disable overlays: Overlays from programs like Discord, Steam, and NVIDIA GeForce Experience can sometimes interfere with Tarkov. Try disabling these overlays.
  • Temporarily disable antivirus software: Antivirus software can sometimes mistakenly flag Tarkov files as malicious, leading to crashes. Temporarily disable your antivirus software to see if it resolves the issue. If it does, add Tarkov to your antivirus’s exception list.
  • Perform a clean boot: A clean boot starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. This can help you identify if a third-party program is causing the crashes. Search “msconfig” in windows to start

6. Power Supply Issues

A faulty or inadequate power supply unit (PSU) can cause crashes, especially under heavy load. If your PSU isn’t providing enough power to your components, they may become unstable.

Solutions:

  • Check your PSU wattage: Ensure that your PSU has enough wattage to power all of your components, including your CPU, GPU, RAM, and storage devices. Use a PSU calculator to determine the required wattage.
  • Test your PSU: If you suspect your PSU is faulty, you can test it with a PSU tester or take it to a computer repair shop for testing.

7. In-Game Settings

Certain in-game settings, such as texture quality, shadow quality, and anti-aliasing, can put a strain on your system and cause crashes. Especially if you have outdated hardware.

Solutions:

  • Reduce graphics settings: Lowering the graphics settings can significantly reduce the load on your system and prevent crashes. Experiment with different settings to find a balance between performance and visual quality.
  • Disable V-Sync: V-Sync can sometimes cause issues with frame rates and stability. Try disabling V-Sync in the game settings.

By systematically troubleshooting these potential causes, you should be able to identify the reason why Tarkov is crashing on your PC and implement the appropriate solutions. Good luck, and happy raiding!