Imagine being banned from your favorite online shooter thanks to tech included in your shiny new processor. Well, AMD Anti-Lag+ is causing this exact problem, so you need to be on high alert if you’re using a compatible AMD Ryzen CPU.
AMD might be responsible for some of the best graphics cards on the market, but its CPUs are causing headaches for a lot of players right now. Enabling Anti-Lag+ in certain competitive shooters is resulting in devastating bans being handed out.
If you play CS2, Call of Duty, or Apex Legends with AMD Anti-Lag+ enabled, anti-cheat software is flagging it as a violation due to how the technology latches on to crucial DLL files. This is particularly problematic in CS2, where VAC is stepping in to swing the ban hammer, which is rarely reversed.
On top of making you look like a cheater, Anti-Lag+ is also having a generally negative impact on how some of these games run. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone are suffering multiple crash types, all believed to be linked to AMD’s tech.
The official line from AMD and game developers is to play it safe and turn off Anti-Lag+. By default, you can enable and disable the feature by pressing ALT + L. Note that Anti-Lag+ is only available in select games, so this isn’t something you need to worry about for every game you play.
The only other games you need to be cautious of are Fortnite and Overwatch 2. These are the only other online competitive games that could encounter issues with Anti-Lag+ although nothing has been reported as of yet.
If you’re keen to upgrade your CPU, we’ve compiled a list of the best gaming CPUs available right now. For more on the latest CPUs to hit the market, you can check out everything we currently know about the Intel 14th gen release date, which is rumored to be fast approaching.