“Unreal Engine Is Exiting Due to D3D Device Being Lost” (Fix)

Table of Contents

Works in Unreal Engine 5.0 to 5.8 on Windows. Updated November 2026.

Quick answer: your graphics card stopped responding, Windows reset it, and Unreal had to close. Try these in order:

  1. Update your GPU driver with a clean install.
  2. Remove any GPU overclock or undervolt, including factory “OC” modes in tools like MSI Afterburner.
  3. Give the GPU more time: raise the Windows GPU timeout (TdrDelay, Step 3), then restart.
  4. Lower the load: set the editor’s Scalability to High or Medium, and turn off hardware ray tracing if you don’t need it.

The error

				
					Unreal Engine is exiting due to D3D device being lost.
(Error: 0x887A0006 - 'HUNG')

You may also see 0x887A0005 - 'REMOVED' or a “GPU crashed” message. They have the same causes.

Why it happens

Windows gives the graphics card about two seconds to finish each piece of work. Heavy scenes, shader compiling, Lumen or path tracing can take longer, especially on mid-range cards. Windows then assumes the card has frozen and resets it, which crashes Unreal. Unstable clocks, overheating and old drivers make it much more likely.

Step 1: Clean-install your GPU driver

Download the latest driver from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel. In the installer, choose Custom and tick Perform a clean installation (NVIDIA) or Factory Reset (AMD). Restart afterwards.

Step 2: Remove overclocks

Set your GPU tool (MSI Afterburner, AMD Adrenalin tuning, the card maker’s app) back to default clocks. If the card has a factory “OC mode”, switch it to normal or silent mode. Unreal pushes cards harder than most games, so a clock that’s stable elsewhere can still fail here.

Step 3: Raise the Windows GPU timeout

This gives the card more time before Windows resets it.

  1. Press Win+R, type regedit and press Enter.
  2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers.
  3. Right-click > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, name it TdrDelay, and set it to 60 (decimal).
  4. Add another named TdrDdiDelay, also 60.
  5. Restart your PC.

Back up the registry first (File > Export in the Registry Editor). This setting only changes how long Windows waits. If the GPU is truly faulty or overheating, the crash will still happen, just later.

Step 4: Lower the load

  • In the main toolbar, open Settings > Engine Scalability Settings and pick High or Medium.
  • If you don’t need ray tracing, untick Support Hardware Ray Tracing in Project Settings > Rendering and restart.
  • Check temperatures with a tool like HWiNFO. Above about 85 °C, clean the fans or improve airflow.

Step 5: Try DirectX 11 (last resort)

In Project Settings > Platforms > Windows, set Default RHI to DirectX 11 and restart. It’s more forgiving on some cards, but you lose Nanite, virtual shadow maps and hardware ray tracing, so treat it as a test, not the fix.

FAQ

It only crashes while shaders compile. That’s the heaviest load. Let compiling finish with a light scene open, and see how to speed up compiling shaders.

Is my graphics card broken? Rarely. If it crashes in other games too, even at default clocks with a fresh driver, then test the card or its power supply.

Do I need a better PC? Not always. A lower scalability setting often fixes it. See what PC you need for Unreal Engine 5.

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