How to Fix Dragon Age: The Veilguard DXGI ERROR DEVICE REMOVED on PC

BioWare’s track record following the release of Dragon Age Inquisition hasn’t been great. Mass Effect Andromeda and Anthem both didn’t meet player expectations. However, with Dragon Age: The Vielguard, things have improved. Not only is it a good game, but an excellent one on a technical level, as it is incredibly polished on all platforms. However, PC users are experiencing errors and issues with the game, like random crashes with the “DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED” error or DirectX error. Here I have listed fixes that will help you resolve the Dragon Age: The Veilguard DXGI error crash on Windows PC.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard DXGI DEVICE REMOVED Fix for Windows PC

One of the main issues that BioWare had to deal with while developing its previous titles was the Frostbite engine, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard runs on the same game engine, albeit an upgraded version of it. This time around, the devs have managed to take full advantage of it. Like I said, DA: The Veilguard is incredibly optimized for all platforms. Despite that, PC users are experiencing DXGI crashes with the following error message:

There are many reasons behind the “DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED” error in the game, such as an overclocked GPU, Windows Timeout Detection and Recovery(TDR) causing the GPU to stall or crash, and more. The following fixes will help PC users resolve the DXGI error in DA: The Veilguard on Windows.

Fix #1 – Disable Strand Hair

One of the highlights of DA: The Veilguard is its Hair rendering tech called “Stand Hair”. It realistically simulates the movement of hair, which means it is very resource-intensive. Since this graphics option puts too much load on your GPU, it crashes Dragon Age: The Veilguard with the DXGI error. Disable the “Strand Hair” option in the game’s graphics settings and the error will be fixed.

Fix #2 – Lower Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Graphics Settings

The DXGI error crash occurs when playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard because the current graphics settings put the GPU under a lot of stress. To fix the error, lower the visual settings such as texture quality, ray tracing, shadows, and level of detail. Doing this will lower the GPU stress, and DA: The Veilguard won’t crash with the “DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED” error.

Fix #3 – Limit DA: The Veilguard’s Max FPS

One of the advantages of PC gaming is the ability to play video games at an unlocked FPS. However, a high FPS puts a lot of strain on the GPU and CPU, which crashes the game to the desktop with the DXGI error. If you are playing Dragoon Age: The Veilguard at a high or unlocked FPS, it is crashing the game with the DXGI error. Limit the game’s max frame rate to fix it, and here is how you can do it:

• Open the Nvidia Control Panel.
• Go to Manage 3D Settings > Program Settings.
• Select Dragoon Age: The Veilguard from the drop-down list.
• Scroll down and enable “Max Frame Rate” and set a value for it.

Note: Unless you have a G-Sync or FreeSync-supported, in other words, a Variable Refresh Rate(VRR) display, the Max Frame Limit should be 1/2, 1/3rd, or 1/4th of your monitor’s refresh rate. Otherwise, the FPS won’t match with the refresh rate and the game will feel jittery while playing.

Fix #4 – Use Recommended GPU and Memory Clocks

The ability to overclock the hardware to squeeze more performance out of them is one of the benefits of PC gaming. However, it can make gaming an unstable experience as games start to crash randomly. If you have overclocked your graphics card, it is the reason why Dragon Age: The Veilguard is crashing with the DXGI error. To fix it, revert the graphics card to its default GPU and memory clocks.

In case you haven’t overclocked it, check if it is factor overclocked or using higher GPU and Memory clocks compared to Nvidia’s reference model. Most graphics cards from third-party AIB partners are either factory overclocked or have higher clocks. This is crashing DA: The Veilguard with the “DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED” error. To fix it, enable the Debug Mode through the Nvidia Control Panel, as it forces the graphics card to use Nvidia’s recommended GPU and Memory clocks. Here is how to enable it:

• Open the Nvidia Control Panel.
• Click on the “Help” menu.
• Choose the “Debug Mode” option.
• Play Dragon Age: The Veilguard and the DXGI error crash is fixed.

Fix #5 – Ensure DA: The Veilguard is Running on the Dedicated GPU

Gaming laptops and even desktop PCs have two graphics cards, the integrated GPU (iGPU) and the dedicated Nvidia or AMD GPU. The former is used for basic tasks, while the latter is used when Windows requires it for heavy rendering load, such as playing a video game.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is crashing with the DXGI error because Windows is not switching to the dedicated GPU, and to fix it, PC users have to force the OS to switch. Here is how you can ensure Windows switches to the dedicated Nvidia or AMD GPU for DA: The Veilguard on PC:

• Open Windows 11/10 Settings.
• Navigate to System > Display > Graphics.
• Select Dragon Age: The Veilguard from the list.
• Click on Options.
• Choose “High Performance” in the options and save the changes.
• Launch the game and the DXGI error crash is fixed.

Fix #6 – Delete Shader Cache

Another fix for the DXGI error in DA: The Veilguard is to delete the “shadercache” folder in the Steam installation. Here is how you can do it:

• Right-click the Steam shortcut and select “Open file location”.
• A new Explorer window will open.
• Go to the steamapps folder and delete the “shadercache” folder.
• Launch Dragon Age: The Veilguard and it won’t crash with the “DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED” error.

Note: PC users have noted that this is just a temporary fix and gets the game running for a few hours. After that, the game started to crash with the DXGI error for some players again.

That is all for our fixes for Dragon Age: The Veilguard for the “DXGI ERROR DEVICE REMOVED” error crash on Windows PC.