Rendering device has been lost

So i have a RTX 2080 and when i play overwatch with the settings on low i get no problems and close to 300 fps all the time. But when i play on epic and maxed settings i still get like 250 fps all the time but i keep getting this error message that my rendering device has been lost.

I have no overclocking exept factory overclock so that shouldn’t be a problem. My computer should be able to handle epic easily so i don’t get why my rendering device is getting lost.

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I have the exact same problem with my RTX 2080 MSI GAMING X TRIO, its factory overclocked so i cant change that. Even if i could i wouldnt, why would you remove a perfect oc because one game doesnt like it. My old gtx 970 would also get rendering device has been lost when OCd. Maybe Blizzard doesnt support oc while 99% of all other games does, its strange.

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Hello,

I’d recommend starting by checking this message on the forum, and following all the instructions:

This message is a compilation of the most common causes for this kind of error. Unfortunately, this error can be tricky to diagnose in the forums, since it can often be related to hardware or power issues.

If nothing helps, my recommendation would be taking your PC to a local technician so they can make sure everything is working as it should.


Got feedback about the support I’m providing? Leave your comments here!

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I have been having this problem ever since getting a new PC with a 2080 TI. Its not a overclock or power issue. I’ve tried several different drivers. Crashes like once a day and its only ever Overwatch.

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I also have a RTX 2080ti and experienced this same issue. I’ve never seen this error before either.

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I’ve been experiencing this a few times on my GTX1070 G1 for a few months now. ive tried everything i could think of and followed every guideline I’ve seen blizzard post on any similar post and still no viable fix.

Not getting any crashes when playing any other games including other games on the Blizzard launcher. much more graphically intensive games i must add.

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Yep, having the same issue here. Been in contact with BlizzCS for a couple weeks now through a support ticket. They had me give them some system information as well as run a few tests. None of which seemed to help. It eventually came down to, this is an Nvidia issue and I should reach out to them for assistance OR I have a hardware malfunction (unlikely as I had the exact same build prior just with a 1080 and never once had this issue).

Things they had me try (just so can try them as well)

  1. Download HWmonitor and monitor your temps and frequencies to see if you get any jumps
  2. Clean install your GPU driver with DDU, upon reinstall do NOT reinstall Geforce Experience or 3D vision.
  3. Run ScanDisk, Defrag, and System File Checker Article Link They Sent Me
  4. Run the Memory Diagnostic Tool Another Article Linked To Me
  5. Lastly a link on Nvidia’s site about TDR events, what can cause them, etc. Link

Like I said none of this worked for me, being an faulty part seems unlikely as this happened with TWO separate GPU’s and never happened prior when I used the exact same build with my GTX 1080. It could be a driver issue on Nvidia’s end.

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You can never exclude the possibility of having faulty hardware especially after changing the hardware setup.

Using a recently released GPU increases the chances of having issues. Older hardware and the related drivers/software are well tested compared to new stuff.

Hey all,
The same thing happens to me on PTR. I don’t know what’s going on there but I already encountered this problem in the past.

My PC has an AMD Radeon R7 200 Series video card and everything went smoothly for years until I switched to Windows 10. Then this rendering device silly business started to pop up and I did all the troubleshooting that I could then. It decreased the frequency of game crashes and after a while it all just stopped.

The PTR was all buggy on my client last week when I wanted to try out that partial Mercy nerf revert but this time, when I logged in to try out Ashe, the game crashed five minutes in. To complicate things further, whenever that happens, something in the game files gets corrupted I guess because whenever I restart Overwatch and join a game, the infinite loading screen happens. Tried troubleshooting it using this guide, nothing. But game repair works.

So right now the PTR client does this rendering device nonsense very frequently and whenever it happens, I have to repair the game again. It’s kind of annoying, I can’t play one game start to finish without Overwatch crashing on me.

Y’all have any advice?

Have you tried underclocking your GPU to see if the issue persist?
I had that same issue when I tried playing OW with my 1070 with OC.

Maybe OW and tha factory OC of the RTX doesn’t get along.

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Ive started having this problem im usually getting 150-250fps with a factory oc gtx 1080 but i have been getting this error message and i keep losing all of my eliminations and not to mention if im stuck with a team who arent understanding :expressionless: I cant update driver and i dont see why i should underclock when every other game is fine especially when overwatch is just a game a play irregularly

it seems like people have been having this problem for years but blizzard havent really done anything and there isnt a definitive fix to the issue but i would appreciate any help :slight_smile:

2 Likes

Playing with settings that don’t drive your GPU with max usage might help. For example by capping the FPS and/or lowering some graphics settings.

It’s unlikely to be a bug in OW. A game should’t be able to force a system error (rendering device lost) by simply using the graphics hardware to draw things. It’s a different topic that every software uses the hardware in a different way with different patterns and OW with your specific video settings might be the only software on your machine to trigger this issue that is likely to be hardware/driver related.

There is a new nvidia graphics driver so i am going to do a clean install, i also made a support ticket and i was told that NZXT Cam and shadowplay or something to do with an overlay, so i am going to quit them when playing overwatch and see how it goes.

I have this same issue with my reference 2080. Never had it with my 1070 in the same system.

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Same issue here. Got a 2080 fe.
But kind of same issue occurs in shadow of the tomb raider.
It might be driver related.
Or ram gets too hot by bad vdd power design.

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When it comes to new hardware or software I always recommend buying only the 2nd or 3rd revisions and avoiding unnecessary upgrades when the old stuff is enough and works well.

same problem here got a 2080ti did someone found a fix?

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I was having this problem on my RTX 2080Ti Founder’s edition and after a number of chats with blizzard tech support, they tokd me this is a TDR issue, which means the error is thrown by windows because the GPU stopped responding for a fraction of a second. they advised me to contact Nvidia.

I contacted Nvidia. They asked me to do the following and contact them if the issue still persists. here is what they’ve asked me to do :

Open NVIDIA control Panel (Right click on desktop and click on NVIDIA control panel) > Go to Manage 3D settings, under 3D Settings > select Program Settings > Select app/game from the dropdown menu > if it is not listed in the dropdown menu then click Add then select the respective .exe to the list (I was having problems with my Overwatch, so I selected Overwatch from the list) > And now change these settings from Option 2.

  • Power management mode - prefer maximum performance
  • Tripple buffering - Off
  • Threaded optimization - ON
  • vertical Sync - off

Apply these settings, refresh the Desktop several times, start the game play and check the performance

I have played for an hour after making these changes and have not had a problem since. Will post an update if I encounter the problem again.

Hope this helps anyone facing similar issue.

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Hi guys,

i know it sounds stupid, but check your CPU temps, not the GPU ones. I had this problem too, but peventing the CPU to go into turbo mode, fixed it completely for me. You can do that with throttlestop or simply by going to the engery options and set your max CPU at 99%.

I tried everything and this finally fixed it (played many months - hundrets of hours - since then, never had the issue again)

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Same problem here. I bought a rtx 2070 and started getting this error only in overwatch. I did all the troubleshooting blizzard suggested with no luck. They went on to say that it was a nvidia problem. I returned my rtx 2070 and bought a 2080ti. Got the same error on the rtx2080ti today.

1 Like