Red Dead Redemption 2 Crashing on PC: Fix Every Error

Red Dead Redemption 2 crashing on PC almost always comes from one of five things: an outdated graphics driver, a stale Vulkan pipeline cache (the sga_ files), a graphics setting your PC can’t handle saved in the Settings folder, a manually sized Windows page file, or an unstable overclock. Rockstar’s own first fix for most graphics crashes is the same: update the driver, switch the Graphics API from Vulkan to DirectX 12, and delete the sga_ files. Match your error code in the table below and work only that section.

Match your crash to the fix

What you see	Most likely cause	Go to
ERR_GFX_STATE mid-game	Graphics renderer crash, usually Vulkan + driver	Fix 1
ERR_GFX_INIT on launch	Driver or saved graphics settings	Fix 2
Error code FFFFFFFF	Audio device, driver, or Advanced Graphics setting	Fix 3
ERR_GFX_D3D_DEFERRED_MEM	Out of memory: page file, VRAM or RAM	Fix 4
”Red Dead Redemption 2 exited unexpectedly”	Driver, permissions, fullscreen optimization	Fix 5
Crashes right after a game or driver update	Stale sga_ pipeline cache, broken mods	Fix 1 and Fix 6
Random crashes under load, other games too	Overclock, undervolt or hardware instability	Fix 7
”Out of video memory” / VRAM full	Texture settings beyond your VRAM	Out of video memory error fix

Every path below uses the default Settings folder:

C:\Users\<USERNAME>\Documents\Rockstar Games\Red Dead Redemption 2\Settings

Close the game and the Rockstar Games Launcher before editing anything in it.

Fix 1 — Switch from Vulkan to DirectX 12

Switching the Graphics API to DirectX 12 is Rockstar’s documented fix for ERR_GFX_STATE, and it also clears most crashes that appear right after a GPU driver update. RDR2 builds a Vulkan pipeline cache on disk; when a new driver no longer matches it, the game can crash in the renderer.

If the game reaches the menu:

1. Update your GPU driver first (NVIDIA, AMD, Intel).
2. Open Settings → Graphics, set Advanced Settings to Unlocked.
3. Set Graphics API to DirectX 12.
4. Save, but don’t restart when prompted — return to the main menu, exit the game, then launch it again.

If the game crashes before the menu, change the API by hand:

1. Open system.xml in the Settings folder with Notepad.
2. Find kSettingAPI_Vulkan and change it to kSettingAPI_DX12. Save.
3. In the same folder, delete every file whose name starts with sga_ (for example sga_vulkan_final_init...). These are the pipeline cache; the game rebuilds them.

The trade-off: Vulkan often gives smoother frame times on many PCs, which is why our RDR2 stuttering fix suggests testing it. Stability comes first — if Vulkan crashes, run DirectX 12. Once a later driver is installed, you can delete the sga_ files and try Vulkan again.

Fix 2 — Reset the Settings folder

ERR_GFX_INIT means RDR2 couldn’t start its renderer with the settings it saved, so Rockstar’s fix is to reset those settings.

1. Back up the Settings folder (copy it to your desktop).
2. Delete everything in the folder except system.xml.
3. Relaunch the Rockstar Games Launcher, then the game.

If ERR_GFX_INIT persists, apply the system.xml API change from Fix 1. Your story saves live in a separate Profiles folder and are not affected.

Fix 3 — Error FFFFFFFF and audio devices

Rockstar lists three causes for error code FFFFFFFF: some external audio devices, an outdated graphics driver, and a misconfigured Advanced Graphics setting.

1. Unplug USB headsets, DACs or speakers, launch the game, then plug them back in once you’re in the menu.
2. Update your graphics driver.
3. Apply the system.xml change from Fix 1 (kSettingAPI_Vulkan → kSettingAPI_DX12) and delete the sga_ files.

If the audio step is what fixes it, check for a newer driver or firmware for that audio device.

Fix 4 — ERR_GFX_D3D_DEFERRED_MEM and the page file

ERR_GFX_D3D_DEFERRED_MEM means RDR2 ran out of memory, and Rockstar specifically warns that a manually sized page file can crash the game.

1. Press Win + Pause (or search “View advanced system settings”).
2. Advanced → Performance Settings → Advanced → Virtual memory → Change.
3. Tick Automatically manage paging file size for all drives, click OK and restart.

Then close browsers and other heavy apps before playing, and lower Texture Quality if you’re near your VRAM limit — RDR2’s graphics menu shows a video memory usage bar; keep it below your card’s limit.

Fix 5 — “Exited unexpectedly”: run as administrator

“Red Dead Redemption 2 exited unexpectedly” is most often an outdated graphics driver, and Rockstar’s second step is to run the game executable as administrator with fullscreen optimization off.

1. Update your graphics driver. If an update didn’t help, do a clean install with DDU.
2. In the Rockstar Games Launcher, go to Settings → Red Dead Redemption 2 → Open folder (Steam: Properties → Installed Files → Browse; Epic: Manage → Installation).
3. Right-click RDR2.exe → Properties → Compatibility.
4. Tick Run this program as an administrator and Disable fullscreen optimizations. Apply.

Close overlays and capture tools while testing — the Steam, Discord and NVIDIA overlays, RivaTuner and screen recorders all hook into the renderer. See should you disable fullscreen optimizations for what that checkbox actually changes.

Fix 6 — Remove mods and verify files

Script Hook RDR2, ASI loaders, ReShade, Lenny’s Mod Loader and DLSS or frame-generation mods are the most common cause of crashes right after a title update, because they’re built for the previous game version.

1. Move mod files (dinput8.dll, ScriptHookRDR2.dll, *.asi, the lml folder, ReShade files) out of the game folder.
2. Verify the game files: Rockstar Games Launcher → Settings → Red Dead Redemption 2 → Verify Integrity (Steam: Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity of game files).
3. Add mods back one at a time, only once each has been updated for the current version.

If verifying doesn’t fix it, Rockstar’s last resort is a clean reinstall of the game.

Fix 7 — Remove overclocks and check stability

If RDR2 crashes randomly under load and other games crash too, the problem is usually hardware stability, not the game. RDR2 loads the CPU and GPU hard for long sessions, which exposes overclocks that pass short benchmarks.

• Reset GPU core and memory overclocks to stock in MSI Afterburner or AMD Adrenalin.
• Turn off CPU overclocks and aggressive undervolts — see our CPU undervolt guide for a stable approach.
• On Intel 13th and 14th-gen desktop CPUs, update your motherboard BIOS to the latest microcode; instability on those chips shows up as crashes in demanding games.
• If XMP/EXPO is on and crashes continue, test once with it off.

Crashes with access-violation codes point the same way; see the 0xc0000005 access violation fix and the DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG fix.

Summary

Start with the driver, then switch RDR2 to DirectX 12 and delete the sga_ files — that clears ERR_GFX_STATE, most ERR_GFX_INIT and FFFFFFFF crashes, and post-update crashes. Reset the Settings folder (keep system.xml) for persistent launch errors, put the page file back on automatic for ERR_GFX_D3D_DEFERRED_MEM, and remove mods and overclocks for everything else.

Once the game is stable, the best Red Dead Redemption 2 settings for FPS keep it under your VRAM budget, and the timer resolution guide covers smoother frame pacing on Windows.

Related guides

• Red Dead Redemption 2 stuttering fix
• Best Red Dead Redemption 2 settings for FPS
• GTA 5 crashing fix
• Out of video memory error fix
• How to clean install GPU drivers with DDU