BY AMIT BARAN ROY | Assassin’s Creed Syndicate is finally released on PC after a month delay from its original console launch. Thus, it gave the developers enough time to work on the loose ends, and released the game which is much stable than its predecessor Assassin’s Creed Unity. Even then the game, that is based on the Anvil game engine, is both graphics and RAM intensive. One should know that, this time is very strict with their minimum requirements. To have a butter smooth experience with the game, adhering to the requirements is essential. Still there are fans who owns a low end system, and so here are some of the possible optimizations that can be done with the game.

1. Get the official patch updates :-

Day one patch 1.12 - This 19 MB patch is obligatory and it fixes some of the major issues such as multi-gpu functionality, switching displays in full screen mode, various render and UI issues. Read the changelog for more info.

- This 19 MB patch is obligatory and it fixes some of the major issues such as multi-gpu functionality, switching displays in full screen mode, various render and UI issues. Read the changelog for more info. Patch 1.21 - This was a much needed patch which sizes around 700 MB. It fixes the infinite loading screen in Sequence 7, geometry explosions etc. You can read the changelog for more details.

- This was a much needed patch which sizes around 700 MB. It fixes the infinite loading screen in Sequence 7, geometry explosions etc. You can read the changelog for more details. Patch 1.31- This latest patch brings in some more desired fixes. It provides the option to disable cloth motion 30FPS limits. To do that, one needs to set 'FlexibleMotionSimulationFPS' as 1 in the AC.ini file. Along with this, it also adds support for Jack The Ripper DLC, and fixes some more flickering issues in World Map. Read the entire changelog for the complete list of fixes.

2. Low RAM lag fixes (for users with RAM < 6GB):-

Tweaking the AC.ini file- This settings file is located in MyComputer/MyDocuments/Assassin’s Creed Syndicate/AC.ini. In that folder, set Vsync=0, EnvironmentQuality=0 TextureQuality=0 ShadowQuality=0 ReflectionQuality=0 CharacterQuality=0 SSAO=0, PostFX=0 and Bloom=0. You can keep AntiAliasingMode and GlobalIllumination as 1.

Memory leaks- Some users including myself have experienced severe memory leaks with low RAM (for me, its 4GB). Here’s what fixed it for me. Right click MyComputer > Properties > AdvancedSystemSettings > Advanced > Performance Settings > Advanced > Change Virtual Memory. Set page file for C drive to be anything high. I set it a 5GB, and then it fixed majority of the lag.

For AMD users, disable Raptr from task manager. Disable any other intensive applications that may be running in background.

3. Update GPU drivers to the latest one:-

This is a very important step before starting to play the game. AC Syndicate is extremely graphics demanding. Any old drivers will cause annoying problems such as screen tearing, flickering, ‘ACS.exe stopped working’ crash and excessive FPS drops. Even the initial driver warning at the startup can be avoided. AMD users can update to the latest 15.12 Crimson edition Radeon Software.

Following are some more fixes to known AC Syndicate performance and bug issues which users may experience.

4. AC Syndicate Random Crashes:-

There may be multiple reasons for this, and Ubisoft is yet to respond to that. Well, some of the fixes have been identified. Have a look. Disable any applications such as Antivirus/AntiSpyware programs that can conflict with the game.

Disable all possible startup apps from Start>Run>Msconfig>Startup Tab and restart windows.

Close all Overclocking/Recording softwares such as Fraps, MSI AfterBurner, ShadowPlay, D3D Gear etc.

Don’t forget to install the latest VC++ and DirectX. These setups can be found in the AC Syndication installation folder>Support Software.

Have .Net Framework 3.5 and 4.0 installed.

Disable SLI/Crossfire.

5. Resolution fix:-

Users may encounter black screen and stuttering due to the discrepancy between the desktop and game’s resolution. To fix that, one should run the game in Borderless Windowed mode.

6. Skip Intro Scenes:-

If you feel the need to skip the long intro scenes, only way to do that is either by deleting or renaming the video files. The files can be located in “gamedirectory\videos”. Delete or rename UbisoftLogo.bk2 and pc_twimtbp.bk2 files. Now go to “videos\locale” and delete or rename Epilepsy.bk2, PC_WarningSaving.bk2 and warning_disclaimer.bk2.

7. No sound fix:-

Few users have complained about this issue, and some of them managed to solve it by lowering the Sound Acceleration in DXdiag (can be found in windows search option). Also try disabling surround sound in your audio control panel and restart the game.

8. ‘ACS.exe has stopped working’ crash fix:-

This is a common crash error which can occur for more than one reason. In addition to one of the the above solution, you can try the following. Right click MyComputer > Properties > Advanced System Settings > Advanced > Performance Settings > Data Execution Prevention > Turn on DEP, for all programs and services except those I select>Browse for ACS.exe>Apply

Run Uplay and game as admin. Disable Uplay overlay from Uplay settings.

I would like to repeat that Ubisoft’s AC Syndicate necessitates us to adhere to their System Requirements as much as possible to minimize the above issues. For heads up, you can go through the PC requirements as follows:-

Minimum Specifications:



Supported OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10(64bit versions)

Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10(64bit versions) Processor: Intel Core i5 2400s @ 2.5 GHz or AMD FX 6350 @ 3.9 GHz

Intel Core i5 2400s @ 2.5 GHz or AMD FX 6350 @ 3.9 GHz RAM: 6GB RAM

6GB RAM Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 or AMD Radeon R9 270 (2GB VRAM with Shader Model 5.0)

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 or AMD Radeon R9 270 (2GB VRAM with Shader Model 5.0) DirectX: DirectX June 2010 Redistributable

DirectX June 2010 Redistributable Sound: DirectX compatible sound card with latest drivers

Recommended Specifications:

