3 Solutions to Fix Lag and Crashes in ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ for a Smoother Gaming Experience
'Black Myth: Wukong' pulled in 18 million players in its first two weeks — but its stunning visuals also mean stutters, long loads, and crashes for plenty of PCs. Here's how to fix both.
Long Load Times or Lag During Boss Fights?
Before blaming the Wandering Wight's difficulty, rule out your hardware first.
Method 1: Restart the Game
Long play sessions build up unnecessary cache and temporary files that eat into available memory. A simple restart clears them and often resolves lag on its own.
Method 2: Update Your Graphics Card Drivers
GPU makers regularly release drivers optimized for specific new releases. If yours hasn't been updated recently, a fresh driver install can cut lag and bugs while improving overall performance.
Method 3: Install the Game on an SSD
'Black Myth: Wukong' needs 130GB of storage, and the developers specifically recommend an SSD — the game's dense textures and expansive maps make an HDD's slower read/write speeds a real bottleneck for load times and responsiveness. If your SSD is already over 80% full, background operations like garbage collection kick in more aggressively and performance suffers — adding a second SSD is worth it at that point.
DIY SSD install on your laptop.
A PCIe Gen4x4 internal SSD with plenty of headroom for a 130GB install plus the rest of your library — also PS5-compatible if you split time between platforms.
System Requirements
All tiers need 130GB of storage and Windows 10/11 64-bit — an SSD is required for every ray-tracing tier and strongly recommended even at Minimum.
Medium quality at 1080p.
High quality at 1080p.
Very High quality at 4K.
Medium@1080p, Ray Tracing Low.
Medium@1080p, Ray Tracing Medium.
High@4K, Ray Tracing Very High.
Frequent Crashes in 'Black Myth: Wukong'?
Crashing at 99% during shader compilation, or right as you're about to down a boss like the Yellow Loong? Try these before giving up.
Method 1: Run the Game in Compatibility Mode
- Open Steam and locate the game's installation directory.
- Find
b1.exe, right-click it, and select Properties. - Open the Compatibility tab and set the mode to Windows 7.
- Apply the changes and relaunch the game.
Method 2: Update Your BIOS
This especially helps on Intel 13th/14th-gen CPUs, which have shown instability in some configurations. Download the latest BIOS from your motherboard maker's site and follow their update instructions carefully. If instability persists afterward, it may be a hardware issue worth an RMA.
Method 3: Check Your Memory Usage
The official recommendation is 16GB of RAM (32GB for 4K), but background apps like Discord or antivirus software can eat into that. With the game running, open Task Manager (right-click Start) → Performance → Memory. If usage is regularly above 80%, it's time to upgrade — Windows throttles system performance to avoid crashing when memory runs low, which shows up as lag or unexpected closures either way.
Find memory usage from Task Manager.
Most systems have 2 or 4 memory slots — Task Manager's Performance → Memory view shows slots used vs. total available. For best performance, add RAM in pairs to run in dual-channel mode. Two more things to check before buying: DIMM modules are for desktops and SO-DIMM for laptops — they're physically different and not interchangeable — and confirm whether your system takes DDR4 or DDR5 via your CPU spec sheet or motherboard support list.
Play 'Black Myth: Wukong' on Handheld Devices
Want to take the fight on the go? The ROG Ally, Steam Deck, and PS5's PlayStation Portal all support it, each with its own trade-offs.
AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme (8C/16T, up to 5.1GHz boost) with RDNA 3 12CU graphics.
AMD APU (4C/8T) with RDNA 2 8CU graphics.
Remote-play only — performance and storage mirror your PS5 over the network.
PlayStation Portal
The Portal isn't a standalone handheld — it's a remote-play accessory that streams from your PS5 over an internet connection. Handy for picking up right where you left off when the TV's in use. It charges at 5V/3A, so use a compatible charger — Silicon Power's QS58 power bank or QM25 charger both support PD 5V/3A and Quick Charge, and double as chargers for your phone too.
ROG Ally and Steam Deck
Both are limited to storage expansion via SSD swap or a microSD card, since there's no room for anything larger inside. These devices typically use compact M.2 2230 SSDs — upgrading to something like the PCIe Gen4x4 UD90 2230 gets you up to 2TB, plenty of room for a 130GB install and the rest of your library. For even more space, a Superior microSDXC (A2) card adds up to 1.5TB, with A2-grade random read/write speeds suited to gaming loads.
A compact M.2 2230 SSD sized specifically for handheld consoles like the ROG Ally and Steam Deck — up to 2TB of extra room for large installs.
Up to 1.5TB of extra storage with A2-grade random read/write speeds, suited to gaming loads on handheld consoles.
Conclusion
Update graphics drivers and BIOS first, and try compatibility mode — these cost nothing and take minutes. Then confirm the game is on an SSD that isn't nearly full, and check that RAM usage stays under 80%. A system's performance is only as good as its weakest part — the bottleneck effect — and that's usually RAM or storage before it's ever the CPU or GPU. Sort those first, and any leftover budget is better spent upgrading the processor or graphics card next.
