Zwift Freezing

I know there’s been a ton of discussion on this topic in the past, but most of it was at least a year old.

My zwift keeps freezing on me during workouts. It totally locks up my computer and can only be resolved by a hard restart.  I looked at the computed requirements and as I understand it, my computer should be fine.  Graphics drivers are up to date.

Anyone have any other thoughts on why this is happening?  It’s to the point where I am wasting way more time trying to troubleshoot zwift than I am riding. No good!

What are the specs of your computer, including your video card?

Kill all other unneeded processes before starting Zwift.

 

Sure, it’s a newer HP machine.

 

Intel Core™ i5-6300 CPU @ 2.40GHz

8.00 GB RAM

64-bit

Graphics Card is Intel (r) HD Graphics 520

Since it started freezing down on me, I’ve been making sure everything else is shut down prior to running the software. 

I think you are seeing freezing do to the HD Graphics 520 sharing memory with the on-board RAM. Also, from I can see it has lower specs then the HD 4000 (the minimum).

The recent update also caused a lot of low end Mac computers to freeze or have stuttering graphics.

Here are the minimum specs to run Zwift: https://support.zwift.com/hc/en-us/articles/203193315-What-are-the-minimum-computer-requirements-for-Zwift-

Paul,

Is there any way I can rectify this without buying a new machine, which is absolutely not an option to run zwift! 

If I follow through the link enclosed I get to the website which provides ratings of graphics cards.  It lists the HD 4000 as 454 points and list the HD Graphics as 832 points.  Based on the progression of the other cards listed, I am not sure I see how the card I have is below the minimum.

I appreciate any help you can provide.

Thanks,

Nate

The ratings on that site for on-board cards are a little suspect. because the cards performance is dictated by the CPU speed and the memory speed in side the laptop. 

I would say at best that your video card is on par with the minimum specs.

Here are a couple links for you:

Yours: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-520.149940.0.html

Minimum: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4000.69168.0.html

If you look the core speed on the HD 4000 is higher than the HD 520, but it depends on the CPU.

On-board graphics cards are handcuffed on performance because they share resources with the computer.

So your telling me the current update made zwift incompatible with my laptop?   Any potential to rectify this?  Kind of a bummer, but from what it seems you are telling me you updated me out of using zwift? 

If this is the case, guess I will cancel my membership and find another platform.  

Sorry to hear that!

Nate,

I don’t work for Zwift.

You could use an iOS device or purchase an AppleTV for around $150 to run Zwift.

Sorry, don’t mean to vent on you and I appreciate your help.  It just seems insane that my laptop is on par with the minimum requirements and now has been updated out of being useful.  I’m $1,000 into a trainer and will find another platform that doesn’t make it difficult for members to use.  No sense in being a member of zwift if they don’t want me!

You could submit a ticket and see if Zwift techs have any tricks to get you up and running: https://support.zwift.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

A lot of Mac users are in the same boat as you after the 1/31 update.

The recent update has caused stuttering graphics and dropped Bluetooth connections on AppleTV 4K so that isn’t really a viable option. Those weren’t issues prior to the recent update.

Esssentially you have to accept when running Zwift on anything other than a high priced gaming PC you’re paying for a beta service. Original Zwifters and fanboys will criticize you and call you a ‘whiner’ for expecting much of anything for your monthly fee- you should be thankful Zwift exists at all. Zwift leadership will blame you- your machine, your Internet connection- instead of acknowledging or gasp fixing the issues. 

Ride on.