Severe Frametime Spikes When Pressing Keyboard or Mouse Inputs

[longlivesand]

Description:
I’ve been noticing consistent frametime spikes whenever I press any keyboard key or mouse button while playing Deadlock.
Even though my average FPS is very high, the input causes visible stutter and a sharp drop in 0.1% lows.


For example, my 0.1% lows drop from around 120+ down to ~40 FPS whenever I press a key or click the mouse.
The stutters stop completely when no inputs are being made.


This issue doesn’t occur in other Source 2 or DX12 games like CS2 or BO6, so it seems unique to Deadlock.
View attachment 314dd750-a64f-4ad4-9021-9ff5aa2959bd.mp4

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My system specs:

• CPU: Ryzen 7 5800X3D
• GPU: RTX 4080
• RAM: 32 GB DDR4-3600 MHz CL18
• OS: Windows 11 (latest updates)
• Drivers: Latest NVIDIA + AMD chipset drivers installed

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What I’ve tried so far:

• Reinstalled the game
• Changed USB ports (rear I/O and front)
• Disabled all background apps (G Hub, iCUE, Synapse, etc.)
• Tested different keyboard/mouse polling rates (1000 → 500 → 250 Hz)
• Tried both Vulkan and DX11 renderers
• Verified game files and reinstalled drivers
• Windows reset
• Disabled Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in the BIOS

No improvement — the issue persists across all configurations.

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Notes:
The frametime spikes are very consistent and reproducible.
It feels like input events are being processed on the same thread as rendering, which causes momentary stalls each time an input is registered.
Average frame times remain low and stable when no input is pressed. This has not always been a problem — it started occurring about a month ago. It’s been driving me crazy because I thought something was wrong with my PC, but I finally figured out it’s caused by Deadlock itself.

 

[longlivesand]

UPDATE:


Fixed! The FPS drops when pressing keys or clicking the mouse were resolved by:

1. Disabling fullscreen optimizations on the Deadlock executable.
2. Running the game directly from the desktop instead of launching it through Steam.

After this, my FPS is completely stable, even during input.

 

[Z Type Knight]

I am also confirming this issue, except it is far more severe with me, in the sense that the game will freeze for several seconds at a time. I will try to implement your fix and see if it helps.

I am running an R7 7700x, RTX 4060, 64 GB DDR5, with Windows 11 and up-to-date NVIDIA drivers (version 581.80.) I want to clarify that under 580.97 (the previous NVIDIA driver version I was running), Deadlock ran perfectly smoothly, with no frame stutters of any kind. I have also isolated the issue to Deadlock, as other games ran smoothly.

 

[longlivesand]

I am also confirming this issue, except it is far more severe with me, in the sense that the game will freeze for several seconds at a time. I will try to implement your fix and see if it helps.

I am running an R7 7700x, RTX 4060, 64 GB DDR5, with Windows 11 and up-to-date NVIDIA drivers (version 581.80.) I want to clarify that under 580.97 (the previous NVIDIA driver version I was running), Deadlock ran perfectly smoothly, with no frame stutters of any kind. I have also isolated the issue to Deadlock, as other games ran smoothly.

Did it work?

 

[The Empyrean]

I was having the exact same issues that longlivesand was having, my system is 9800X3D, 5070ti, 32GB RAM and Windows 11, using the 581.47 Nvidia drivers. I tried turning all settings down, DX11/Vulkan, etc, and I can confirm that the only thing that fixed it was doing what he suggested which was :

1. Disabling fullscreen optimizations on the Deadlock executable.
2. Running the game directly from the desktop instead of launching it through Steam.

The game will keep on stuttering unless I do exactly these two steps, and I can reproduce these results every single time. I don't feel like I need to share my own video because it looks exactly like the one from the original post showing the same frametime spikes, but I could do it if any devs are reading this post and need more proofs.

 

[Z Type Knight]

I do have a question: Has anyone on AMD or Intel GPUs reported this same issue?

 

[The Empyrean]

Go to SeamLibrary\steamapps\common\Deadlock\game\bin\win64, find deadlock.exe, right click properties, compatibility tab and it's there.