Graphics cards are the driving force behind modern computers as user interfaces become more and more graphics-intensive. This also means that it can affect your device quite severely when there’s a problem.
In this article, we’re looking at the AMD driver timeout error its causes and giving you a few solutions on how to fix the problem.
Also read: Why are the graphics on my screen pixelated?
Why does this happen?
AMD drivers can crash for several reasons. Some of the most popular ones are as follows.
- Outdated system OS.
- Smaller virtual memory.
- Outdated, corrupt or incompatible driver.
- Improper configurations.
How to fix this?
Here are a few solutions you can take to fix the problem.
Update your PC
The first thing you should do is to update your PC. Updating your PC will, in most cases, update your drivers and fix any issues in the process.
Check out this detailed guide to know how to update your PC here
Set your PC to performance mode
If your PC is in the battery saver mode, it can cause some modules required for AMD drivers not to load, causing them to crash. Here’s how to fix the problem.
Step 1: Press Windows Key + I to open Windows Settings and click on Power & Battery.
Step 2: Select the Best Performance power mode.
Adjust Visual Affects for performance
Adjusting your Windows VFX for performance will help take some load off the GPU and help it run fine.
Step 1: Press the Windows key and search for View advanced system settings. Click the corresponding search result.
Step 2: Under Performance, click the Settings… button.
Step 3: Select Adjust for best performance and click Apply followed by OK.
Your graphics drivers should work fine now.
Increase the Virtual Memory
When your RAM is full, your PC uses a part of your hard drive as RAM. If this memory is too little, you can add more to see if that solves your problem.
Step 1: Press the Windows key and search for advanced system settings. Then, click on the corresponding option.
Step 2: Under the Advanced tab, click on the Settings button in the Performance section.
Step 3: Go to the Advanced tab and click Change under Virtual Memory.
Step 4: Uncheck the Automatically manage paging file size for all drives option.
Step 5: Change the value to match the recommended value.
This should resolve the error.
Decrease the refresh rate
Sometimes running your display at a higher refresh rate can cause problems, especially if your GPU isn’t equipped to handle a higher refresh rate.
Step 1: Right-click on your desktop and select Display settings.
Step 2: Scroll down and click on Advanced display.
Step 3: Make sure your display is set to the lowest possible refresh rate.
Restart your computer, and the error should’ve been resolved.
Disable Fast Startup
Sometimes data saved during Fast Startup can get corrupted, causing software issues. Disable Fast Startup and try again.
Step 1: Right-click the Start Button and select Settings. Alternatively, you can press Windows Key + I.
Step 2: Search for Power & Sleep Settings.
Step 3: Click on Additional Power Settings.
Step 4: Click on Choose what the power button does.
Step 5: Click on Change settings that are currently unavailable.
Step 6: Disable/Enable Fast startup.
Restart your computer and try again.
Update your graphics drivers
Outdated graphics drivers often cause problems with video output on monitors. Check to make sure you’ve got the latest graphics drivers.
Step 1: Press Windows key + R to open the Run prompt. Type in devmgmt.msc and hit enter.
Step 2: Scroll down to find Display adaptors — double click it to expand and see all your graphics cards.
Step 3: Right-click on your graphics cards and select Update driver.
Step 4: Select Search automatically for updated driver software. Windows will automatically download and install any updates that are available.
Restart your PC, and the display should be fine. If this doesn’t work, you can repeat the aforementioned process until step three, delete the driver and restart your computer to force a driver to reinstall.
Install an older driver
You can also opt to roll back to a previous version of the driver working fine for you. Here’s how.
Step 1: Press Windows key + R, type in devmgmt.msc and hit enter.
Step 2: Double click the problematic driver to open its properties.
Step 3: Under the Drivers tab, click Roll Back Driver. If the option is greyed out for you, the driver can’t be reverted to an older version or is already on the oldest version.
Restart your computer and try using it with the older driver. It should work fine for you now.
Disable virtualisation
Disabling virtualisation can resolve driver conflicts with Windows if you don’t have compatible hardware. However, if you don’t have an option for virtualisation in your BIOS, you can skip this step entirely.
Check out our detailed guide on how to enable or disable virtualisation in BIOS here
Clear the Shader Cache of your card
Clearing out the shader cache can get rid of corrupted or damaged files, which might be causing issues.
Step 1: Open AMD Adrenalin and head over to Settings followed by Graphics.
Step 2: Click Perform Reset in front of Shade Cache.
Restart your PC and try again.
Disable FreeSync
DIsabling FreeSync can also help fix issues with your GPU.
Step 1: Launch AMD Radeon Settings and click the Display tab.
Step 2: Select your display and disable the AMD FreeSync toggle. Additionally, check if the Virtual Super Resolution toggle is disabled as well.
Now restart your PC, and the error should’ve gone.
Edit the system registry
If nothing else works, try using this registry hack to resolve the timeout issue your driver might be running into.
Step 1: Press Windows Key + R to open the Run prompt. Type regedit and hit enter.
Step 2: Navigate to the following path.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDriversStep 3: Click the empty space on the right side and select New followed by DWORD (32-bit).
Step 4: Name the DWORD TdrDelay and set the value to 8.
Step 5: Repeat steps three and four with a QWORD (64-bit value).
Now restart your PC, and you should be good to go.
Also read: Top 7 Graphics cards under 5000
