Fix "Out of Video Memory Trying to Allocate a Rendering Resource"
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“Out of video memory trying to allocate a rendering resource” is an Unreal Engine crash that fires when the game asks your GPU for more VRAM than it can provide — most often fixed for free by lowering Texture Quality one notch, clean-installing your GPU driver, and raising the Windows pagefile. The message blames your video card, but it is not always the GPU: outdated drivers, a too-small virtual memory file, and an unstable Intel 13th/14th-gen CPU all throw this same error. This guide fixes it in the order most likely to work.
The exact error
The full message, which appears just before the game closes, reads:
Out of video memory trying to allocate a rendering resource. Make sure your video card has the minimum required memory, try lowering the resolution and/or closing other applications that are running. Exiting…
You will see it in Unreal Engine 4 and 5 titles — Fortnite, ARK: Survival Ascended, Hogwarts Legacy, The Finals, Dune: Awakening, STALKER 2, and many others — usually on launch, on a loading screen, or during a heavy scene.
What actually causes it
The engine hit a hard wall trying to reserve GPU memory and chose to exit rather than corrupt a frame. Four different problems produce the identical message, so match the fix to the likely cause instead of trying everything at random:
| Likely cause | Tell-tale sign | Primary fix |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM exhausted by settings | Crash on a specific area/loading screen; VRAM at 100% | Lower Texture Quality one step |
| Outdated / corrupt GPU driver | Started after a driver or Windows update | DDU clean install of the latest driver |
| Windows pagefile too small | 8–16GB RAM, pagefile set to “small” or off | Raise virtual memory to ~1.5× RAM |
| Intel 13th/14th-gen instability | i5-13600K+ / i7 / i9; crashes worsen over weeks | 0x12B BIOS microcode + Intel Default Settings |
Work them top to bottom — the top two fix the large majority of cases.
Fix 1 — Lower Texture Quality (not just resolution)
Texture settings, not resolution, are what fill VRAM. In the game’s video options, drop Texture Quality (also called Texture Detail or Texture Streaming Pool Size) by one step. This is the single most effective fix because it directly reduces how much high-resolution texture data the engine holds in VRAM at once, and on most games the visual difference is barely noticeable.
If the game exposes a Texture Streaming Pool or lets you edit Engine.ini, setting a sane cap (for example r.Streaming.PoolSize=2000 for a 4GB card) tells Unreal to stop over-committing VRAM. Also drop resolution or disable a resolution multiplier if you were running above native.
Fix 2 — Clean-install your GPU driver with DDU
A corrupt or outdated driver mis-reports available VRAM and is one of the most common triggers, especially right after a game patch or Windows update. Do a clean install rather than installing on top — leftover files are frequently the problem.
Use Display Driver Uninstaller in Safe Mode, then install the latest driver from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel. Full steps are in our clean GPU driver install with DDU guide. Skip any “clean install” tickbox in the vendor installer alone — it does not remove as much as DDU does.
Fix 3 — Increase Windows virtual memory (pagefile)
When physical VRAM and RAM fill, Windows spills to the pagefile; if that file is too small, the allocation fails and the game crashes. Give it more headroom:
- Press Win, search View advanced system settings, open it.
- Advanced tab → Performance → Settings → Advanced → Virtual memory → Change.
- Untick Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.
- Select your system drive (usually C:), choose Custom size.
- Set Initial and Maximum both to about 1.5× your RAM in MB — 24576 for 16GB, 49152 for 32GB.
- Click Set, OK, and reboot.
This is a reliable fix on systems with 8–16GB of RAM where the pagefile was left tiny or disabled.
Fix 4 — Close VRAM-hungry background apps
Anything using hardware acceleration competes for the same VRAM. Before launching, close or disable:
- Chrome / Edge / Firefox with many tabs (hardware acceleration reserves VRAM).
- Wallpaper Engine, Discord’s hardware acceleration and overlay, OBS, and second-monitor video.
- Other games or launchers left running in the background.
On a 4–6GB card this alone can be the difference between crashing and launching.
Fix 5 — The Intel 13th/14th-gen CPU fix (why a 16GB card still crashes)
If you have an Intel 13th or 14th-gen CPU (i5-13600K and above, i7, i9) and this error appears even on a high-VRAM card, the cause is almost certainly not your GPU. Intel confirmed a microcode voltage bug that requests too much power, degrading these CPUs over time; the instability surfaces during Unreal Engine’s shader compilation and throws this exact “out of video memory” message.
The fix:
- Update your motherboard BIOS to the version containing the 0x12B microcode (or later) — download it from your board maker’s support page.
- After flashing, enter BIOS and load Intel Default Settings (some boards silently remove power limits, which keeps the instability). Do not run an “unlimited power” or auto-overclock profile.
If your CPU has already degraded past the point BIOS can fix, Intel extended the warranty to five years for affected chips — an RMA is the remedy at that stage.
Fix 6 — Remove any GPU overclock
An unstable GPU memory or core overclock throws memory-allocation crashes that look exactly like a VRAM shortage. Reset your card to stock in MSI Afterburner (or your vendor tool) and test. A factory-reset driver install also clears any saved overclock profile.
When it really is the hardware
If the crash survives every fix above and monitoring (the in-game or Afterburner VRAM readout) shows your card genuinely pinned at 100% VRAM in the seconds before each crash, then the game legitimately wants more VRAM than your card has. At that point your realistic options are to keep textures lower or move to a higher-VRAM GPU — see how much VRAM you actually need for gaming before you spend anything.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
What does "out of video memory trying to allocate a rendering resource" mean?
It means an Unreal Engine game asked your GPU for more VRAM than it could give, so the engine shut down rather than run out mid-frame. It usually points to VRAM exhaustion from texture settings set too high for your card, but it is not always the GPU's fault — outdated drivers, a too-small Windows pagefile, and unstable Intel 13th/14th-gen CPU voltage all throw the exact same message.
Does this error mean I need a new graphics card?
Usually no. Most fixes are free: lower Texture Quality one notch, clean-install your GPU driver with DDU, raise the Windows virtual memory (pagefile), and close VRAM-hungry background apps like browsers and Wallpaper Engine. Only buy more VRAM if the crash persists after those steps and monitoring shows your card genuinely pinned at 100% VRAM before every crash.
Why do I get an out-of-video-memory crash with a high-VRAM card like a 12GB or 16GB GPU?
Because the message is not always about real VRAM. On Intel 13th and 14th-gen CPUs (i5-13600K and up), a microcode voltage bug degrades stability and throws this Unreal Engine error during shader work even on a 16GB GPU. Update your motherboard BIOS to the 0x12B microcode and enable Intel Default Settings. A too-small pagefile or a bad GPU overclock can also trigger it regardless of card size.
How do I increase virtual memory to fix the crash?
Open Start, search "View advanced system settings" → Advanced tab → Performance Settings → Advanced → Virtual memory → Change. Untick "Automatically manage", select your system drive, choose Custom size, and set both Initial and Maximum to roughly 1.5× your RAM in MB (e.g. 24576 for 16GB). Click Set, OK, and reboot. This gives Windows headroom to spill when VRAM fills.
Is lowering Texture Quality the same as lowering resolution?
No, and Texture Quality is the more effective fix here. Resolution mainly loads the framebuffer, while Texture Quality (sometimes "Texture Streaming Pool" or "Texture Detail") controls how much high-resolution texture data is held in VRAM at once — which is what this error runs out of. Drop Texture Quality one step first; it usually stops the crash with almost no visual loss.