I have checked multiple different sites for information about this or possible fixes. Ever since the prepatch to 11.0 WoW will randomly freeze at least once per login session for 5 to 15 seconds. I unchecked the automatically applied graphics settings that came with prepatch and that alleviated it some, at the time.
But now it is getting worse. The freezes are more frequent and last longer. Seems like every update they have done since the launch has made it worse. I’ve updated all my drivers repeatedly, I have tried low graphics settings (Alienware X17 R2, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, 32gb memory), but it is beyond frustrating.
I understand you’re trying to be helpful, but something did happen since the recent update/maintenance. The game frequently freezes for 5-10 seconds after a loading screen, which is unrelated to personal resources.
I don’t run anything while playing for that reason now. BNet is set to close on launch, I don’t use Discord atm, so the only things that are running during playtime should be Windows processes.
If you’re experiencing the same issues, you may have something in common with the OP. I haven’t run into this, and no one in my guilds or Discord communities has mentioned it (they often come to me for tech support).
So, back to troubleshooting…
You mentioned you’re on a laptop. Check the Windows Power settings and make sure they are on High Performance. You also want to check the nVidia Control Panel for the High Performance setting. It’s under 3D Settings → Manage 3D settings → Power management mode.