Valorant is not a GPU-intensive game. Yet sources report that they face the “Graphics Driver Crashed” error after a few minutes of gameplay. This can be annoying because Valorant can potentially ban your account for abandoning multiple matches.
The pop-up window of the error is displayed below.
Valorant’s “Graphics Driver Crashed” error is a software-related issue that occurs due to outdated GPU drivers, overclocked RAM or GPU, and overheating GPU due to unlocked framerate. There may not be any issue with your hardware. But our research has shown that Valorant is quite troublesome and causes issues even when there are none.
If you encounter the “Graphics Driver Crashed” error in Valorant. First check to see if your PC meets the minimum system requirements, especially the recommended GPU settings. If you meet these requirements and still encounter the error then proceed to try our fixes below.
How To Fix Valorant “Graphics Driver Crashed” Error
1. Update Graphic Card Drivers
While playing the game if the graphics driver crashes make sure your graphics drivers are up to date. Since Valorant “Graphics Driver Crashed” issue is GPU-related it is best to update GPU drivers to the latest version. The latest GPU drivers can be obtained from their respective websites. Make sure to uninstall previous graphics drivers through DDU.
Note: Once new drivers are installed restart the PC before seeing if the fix worked.
2. Switch Valorant To Windowed mode
A source reported that they were able to fix Valorant’s “Graphics Driver Crashed” issue. They simply switched Valorant’s display mode to windowed mode. To do so simply press Alt + Enter when in-game before Valorant crashes.
It may not be the permanent fix you were looking for as games are meant to be played in fullscreen. However, it is a temporary one until Riot Games addresses this issue.
(Note: You may have to do this every time you launch Valorant.)
2. Deleting Valorant’s Webcache & CrashReportClient
A certain fix by a YouTuber involves deleting the webcache and crash logs of Valorant. These files are automatically created upon launch of Valorant and cause the “Graphics Driver Crashed” error. So you may need to delete these files before every launch of Valorant. Follow these steps to get rid of these files.
- Press Windows + R on the desktop to launch Run.
- Once Run is open type in “%localappdata%”. (without the “”)
- Scroll down and open the “VALORANT“ folder.
- Open the Saved folder and delete the webcache folder.
- Now open the Config folder and within it delete the CrashReportClient folder.
4. Disable GPU Overclock
GPU overclocking is another cause for the Valorant “Graphics Driver Crashed” error. A Source reported that disabling GPU overclock through MSI Afterburner fixed this issue for them. This fix is only valid if your GPU is overclocked via MSI Afterburner.
Follow the steps below to disable/reset GPU overclock.
- Launch MSI Afterburner.
- Click on the rollback icon on the bottom as shown.
Restart the PC when the OC settings are reset. Once the PC is done restarting launch Valorant to see if the problem is fixed. If not proceed to our next fix.
5. Reset XMP Profile
A source reported that underclocking Rams through Bios fixes the “Graphics Driver Crashed” error in Valorant.
This can be done by disabling XMP (Extreme Memory Profile). You can also adjust DRAM Frequency manually to underclock your rams. There are no exact steps as every motherboard has different BIOS menus.
- Shut down your PC.
- Bootup your PC and while it is booting press the corresponding key to launch BIOS settings. (mostly Delete key is the to go into BIOS settings)
- Find the OC (Overclock) menu once inside BIOS settings.
- Look for DRAM Settings.
Here you have two options.
Option 1: Disable XMP Profile
Look for the XMP Profile option and set it to disabled.
Option 2: Manual DRAM Frequency Adjustment
Locate the DRAM Frequency option and click on it. Once you see the drop-down list select a frequency a little lower than the current set value.
Example: If your DRAM frequency is set to 3600mhz lower it to 3400mhz or 3200mhz.
6. Cap Valorant’s In-game FPS.
Capping FPS in Valorant can prevent the “Graphics Driver Crashed” error according to a source. Despite running a high-end GPU like Nvidia RTX 3080 which can run Valorant on 600+ FPS the user was forced to cap his FPS to 200. According to the user without the cap, the GPU ran at max power to achieve as high FPS as possible. Due to the GPU running at max power, it overheated and resulted in the “Graphics Driver Crash” error. They also mentioned that this specific crash only occurs in Valorant.
If you happen to have a high-end GPU like the RTX 3070 or above we recommend capping your frames to 60-144 FPS. Under normal circumstances, this isn’t what causes a crash of drivers but it does in Valorant for some reason. You can place a cap on your FPS in Valorant by following these steps.
- Launch Valorant.
- In the main menu click on the Gear icon in the top right corner to open settings.
- Once inside settings go to the Video tab
- Under the Video tab click on General.
- Enable the following options by setting them to ON.
- Limit FPS in Menu.
- Limit FPS in Background.
- Limit FPS Always.
- Set Max FPS to 144-240 if on a high-end GPU.
- Set Max FPS to 30-60 if on a low-end GPU.
7. Update Windows and DirectX
After viewing the crash logs of some users it is observed that the Valorant “Graphics Driver Crashed” error occurs because of an outdated DirectX version. Luckily both Windows and DirectX 12 can be updated through Windows Update. Here’s how it can be done in Windows 10 & Windows 11.
- Open Windows Search Bar.
- Type in Windows Update and press Enter.
- In the Windows Update Menu click on Check for Updates.
8. Reinstall Valorant
Hopefully one of the above-mentioned fixes has solved your Valorant “Graphics Driver Crashed” error. Yet if you still face this issue then you can try to reinstall Valorant. Make sure to uninstall the game properly from the Add or Remove Programs menu. Right-click on Valorant and click Uninstall then follow the steps to complete the process. You can then go to Riot’s official website and download Valorant again.
