# New computer crashing games, error that it ran out of video memory.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 6, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027 "2020-03-06T20:29:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027/1 "2020-03-06T20:29:56Z")
Ok, built large kid a computer this Christmas. We’re using AMD Ryzen 3400 and relying on the onboard graphics. However, after playing a game for a while (30-45 minutes), the game crashes and we get an “Insufficient video memory” error.
I have updated to the latest BIOS, which didn’t help.
One thing I noticed is that the BIOS recognizes all 8 GB of installed RAM, but windows only shows 6. Is that because 2 are reserved for the APU to use, and that’s what’s running out?
Would installing more matching RAM fix the problem?
Or do we need to just bite the bullet and get a dedicated GPU?
I have 2x2 GB of DDR3-1333 and an old GeForce GT240 laying around…would those help the matter any? My first thought is that they would cause bottlenecks because they’re slower.
Googling didn’t seem to help much, so thought I’d ask youse guys. Apart from the error, we’re happy with how it’s performing. He’s running semi-old stuff like Fallout 4 on Ultra by default. For a while, anyway…
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### Author:  [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2020, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027/2 "2020-03-06T20:36:14Z")
Is it just one game, or several?
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### Author:  [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027/3 "2020-03-06T20:40:08Z")
> [@wolfman](#):
>
> Is it just one game, or several?
Several. Anything graphically demanding.
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2020, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027/4 "2020-03-06T20:47:23Z")
[del]What OS?[/del]
Nevermind. Go here and follow the instructions to see how much video ram you have available: [https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001307.htm](https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001307.htm)
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### Author:  [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2020, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027/5 "2020-03-06T20:56:22Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#):
>
> What OS?
Win 10, mobo is an MSI B450-A Pro Max
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027/6 "2020-03-06T21:01:23Z")
I knew that glitch would come at a bad time. See my corrected post to determine how much video memory is being allocated, then see if you can use the BIOS/UEFI interface or possibly the control panel applet to increase it.
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### Author:  [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2020, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027/7 "2020-03-06T21:09:27Z")
5gb available graphics memory, 2gb dedicated, 3gb shared system memory. Didn’t find anywere in the BIOS to tweak that, nor Windows…
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027/8 "2020-03-06T21:17:59Z")
Looks like there’s a utility app for the motherboard at [B450-A PRO MAX | Motherboard | MSI Global](https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B450-A-PRO-MAX#down-utility)
Might be worth installing that to see if it will give you some control over the settings.
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### Author:  [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027/9 "2020-03-06T21:18:15Z")
Ah wait… Found it in the BIOS. It saw buried deep. Everything was set to auto. I forced onboard graphics. Buffer size was set to auto, I made it 2GB. Now we’ll see!
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2020, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027/10 "2020-03-06T21:21:46Z")
Hmm. Same link as above, different tab: the user manual for the motherboard appears to suggest on page 46 that there is a setting that
"Selects a fixed amount of system memory allocated to the onboard graphics. This
item will be available when Integrated Graphics is enabled. "
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### Author:  [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027/11 "2020-03-06T21:28:49Z")
Thanks, I feel like we’ve figured it out. I’m sure I looked for that before but duh, never bothered to check the manual.
Poor kid, now I’m going to make him play games all day tomorrow to make sure we’re good! Good thing it’s his birthday.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [March 6, 2020, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027/12 "2020-03-06T21:54:53Z")
I’d get more memory anyway- 8 is kind of puny for games these days, especially if 2 is GPU-only and a big chunk of the rest is shared/available. And memory’s cheap- you can get 16 gigs or even 32 gigs for cheap- I got 32 gb of DDR4 3600 memory (Corsair Vengeance LPX) for $159 a few weeks back.
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### Author:  [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2020, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027/13 "2020-04-24T19:51:09Z")
Hey guys, went to order 2 more sticks of matching RAM for his machine, but Amazon can’t even give me an estimated ship date much less a delivery date. And actually now it says they’re out of stock.
So please tell me HOW important it is for me to match the voltage and timing. What he has is 16-18-18-38 and 1.2v, and damned if I can find a set with those particular specs. I can find 16-18-18-38 1.35v. Is that a problem, or something I can tweak to match in the overclocking setting on the mobo?
ETA: and just for an update, allocating more allowance to use RAM for the graphics processor did solve most of the problem. Still has the crash now and then, but it’s much less frequent.
ETTE: he decided to try Skyrim on it last night. He actually came and got me to see it. He was so stoked…I asked if that looked better than his PS4 and he was like uhyeah.
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### Author:  [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027/14 "2020-04-24T20:01:15Z")
I found some matching stuff on E-Bay! Still curious about the answer, though.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [April 26, 2020, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-computer-crashing-games-error-that-it-ran-out-of-video-memory/849027/15 "2020-04-26T01:15:49Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#):
>
> So please tell me HOW important it is for me to match the voltage and timing.
Since no one else has answered (yet):
From what I understand, getting the voltages the same is more important than the timings, though it depends on your motherboard on whether it can support different voltages for different memory slots. Many can’t, and so you need the same voltage. Sometimes RAM designed with one voltage will work with another one just fine, but it’s a potential source of instability.
Timings, on the other hand, are less important, as they are mostly backwards compatible. So all that happens is that the whole thing falls back to the worst timing, same as it will fall back to the lowest speed.
That said, I’m not someone who builds systems, and have only bought RAM for my machines a handful of times. My claims are more due to looking it up online to find out what should work than it is from personal experience.
If someone with more experience disagrees, I’d listen to them.