Unreal Engine Out of Video Memory? 9 PC Fixes That Make Sense
Quick Answer: What should you try first?
- Close other GPU-heavy apps and restart the game.
- Lower texture quality and resolution; disable ray tracing if enabled.
- Check dedicated GPU memory usage in Windows Task Manager.
- Verify the game files and update your graphics driver.
- If your game officially supports DirectX 11, try its DX11 mode instead of DX12.
Important: This error does not always mean your graphics card lacks VRAM. Test one change at a time to identify the cause.
The Unreal Engine message “Out of video memory trying to allocate a rendering resource” can appear when launching a game, loading a level, compiling shaders or entering a graphics-intensive scene. A genuine GPU memory shortage is one possibility, but damaged game files, graphics drivers or an unstable PC can produce similar symptoms. The safest approach is to check actual memory use before making invasive changes.
Why does Unreal Engine report out of video memory?
Modern games use graphics memory for textures, render targets, shadows and other rendering resources. The memory required changes with resolution and graphics settings. Unreal Engine’s texture streamer manages texture detail within a memory budget, but not every graphics allocation is a streaming texture. A crash message alone cannot establish the root cause.
| What you notice | What to check first |
|---|---|
| Crash after enabling ultra textures or ray tracing | Lower textures, resolution and ray tracing; watch dedicated GPU memory |
| Crash at startup or during shader compilation | Verify files, check driver version and review game-specific support notes |
| Only one game crashes | Check that game’s requirements, patches and supported rendering modes |
| Multiple games crash despite ample VRAM | Check driver stability, temperatures and any CPU/GPU/RAM overclock |
How to fix the Unreal Engine out of video memory crash
1. Restart the game and close GPU-heavy applications
Save your work, close the affected game, then exit other games, video editors, GPU renderers and unnecessary browser windows. Restart Windows if the crash persists. Relaunch the game before opening other demanding applications.
2. Check dedicated GPU memory usage
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- Select Performance → GPU and identify your dedicated graphics card.
- Watch Dedicated GPU memory while reproducing the problem, if the game remains open long enough.
- Compare your GPU’s dedicated VRAM with the affected game’s published requirements.
High memory usage near the card’s limit supports a VRAM-pressure diagnosis; low reported usage does not rule out transient allocation failures or other causes. Do not confuse shared GPU memory with physical VRAM.
3. Reduce settings that increase GPU memory demand
Start with Texture Quality: Medium or Low, reduce display resolution or render scale, and disable ray tracing. Apply changes, restart the game if requested, and retry the scene that crashed. Epic’s Unreal Engine scalability documentation explains that textures, shadow maps and resolution-dependent buffers contribute to graphics memory demand.
4. Verify the affected game’s installation
For Epic Games Launcher titles, open Library → the game’s three-dot menu → Manage → Verify (menu wording can vary). For Steam titles, open Library → right-click the game → Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity of game files. Let the check finish before retesting. Verification may replace damaged or missing game files; it does not increase VRAM.
5. Update or reinstall the GPU driver
Identify your GPU model, then download the appropriate driver directly from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel. Restart after installation. If the crash began immediately after a driver update, consult the manufacturer’s release notes and consider its supported rollback procedure.
6. Try a supported DirectX 11 mode
If the game’s developer explicitly supports a DX11 launch option or graphics setting, test it as an alternative to DX12. Do not assume that every Unreal Engine game supports -dx11 or -d3d11; use the exact option documented for your game. Switching APIs is a diagnostic workaround, not proof that VRAM was exhausted.
7. Make sure the game uses the intended GPU
On a laptop with integrated and dedicated graphics, open Windows Settings → System → Display → Graphics, choose the affected game and inspect its GPU preference. Select High performance if the game is incorrectly using the integrated GPU. Windows options differ by version and hardware; restart the game after changing the setting.
8. Return unstable hardware settings to stock
If crashes happen in several games, undo recent GPU overclocks or undervolts and test with manufacturer-supported default settings. Check CPU temperatures and system stability. If you use an affected Intel desktop CPU, consult your motherboard vendor’s latest BIOS and Intel’s published stability guidance before making firmware changes. Do not change BIOS voltages at random.
9. Escalate with useful diagnostic evidence
If none of the above helps, collect the exact error text, game and version, GPU model and VRAM, driver version, Windows version, graphics API, the scene that crashes and any game crash logs. Contact the game’s support team or GPU manufacturer. If the crash occurs only in your own Unreal Engine project, use stat streaming to examine texture-streaming pressure and profile non-texture GPU allocations separately; increasing r.Streaming.PoolSize blindly can worsen genuine VRAM shortages.
Which fix matches your symptoms?
| Evidence | Next step |
|---|---|
| VRAM near capacity | Lower texture quality, resolution and ray tracing |
| Crash began after game update | Verify files and check the game’s known issues |
| Crash began after driver update | Check driver release notes; consider supported rollback |
| Only DX12 mode crashes | Test developer-supported DX11 mode |
| Several games crash at stock settings | Investigate broader hardware, driver and system stability |
What not to do
- Do not assume increasing Windows page-file size adds VRAM. Virtual memory and dedicated GPU memory are different resources.
- Do not disable texture streaming as a generic fix; doing so can load more textures into memory.
- Do not raise the texture pool without measurements. The pool competes with other GPU resources.
- Do not download unknown “VRAM fixer” tools or make random registry and BIOS changes.
Official references
- Epic Games: Out of video memory troubleshooting (Fortnite-specific example)
- Unreal Engine: Scalability Reference
- Unreal Engine: Texture Streaming Configuration
- Unreal Engine: Texture Streaming Metrics
Related reading: Browse the Seminarsonly troubleshooting articles for additional game and PC error guides. Link to a verified, relevant internal game-error article here when available.
Quick Summary : Fix checklist
- Close GPU-heavy apps and restart.
- Check dedicated VRAM use and the game’s minimum requirements.
- Lower texture quality, resolution and ray tracing.
- Verify files and update GPU drivers.
- Try DX11 only if the game supports it.
- Investigate system stability if multiple games crash.
Bottom line: Match the fix to the evidence. An “out of video memory” dialog is a symptom, not a complete diagnosis.
Editorial note: General troubleshooting guidance checked against Epic Games and Unreal Engine documentation on 22 September 2026. Menus and supported launch options vary by game and Windows version.
