Out of video memory error - is it really a GPU issue?

Nietz

Junior Member
Apr 24, 2017
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Hey everyone,

Long time reader but first time poster here. I've been having some issues lately when I am gaming (usually with more demanding games such as gtav, pub, bf1 etc) in which a couple errors pops up and the game closes. The two errors that shows up are: "Close programs to prevent information loss. Your computer is low on memory. Save your files and close these programs" and "out of video memory trying to allocate a texture! Make sure your video card has the minimum required memory, try lowering the resolution and/or closing other applications that are running. Exiting...".

Here's a pic with both errors at the same time (sorry about first being in a different language):

v049hPy.png


Pic also shows memory usage at that moment and the gpu-z sensors. Here's an example of gpu-z log during a crash (just the relevant part): https://pastebin.com/Lj2znQtL

As you can see, RAM usage doesn't reach 100% and VRAM usage stays around 3~3.5mb (less than half of the 8GB of the 1070).

My system specs are: Windows 10 pro 64 bits, I7 3770K, DZ77GA-70K, 12GB RAM, GEFORCE GTX 1070 (the G1 Gigabyte one). GPU driver is updated.

I've been searching about this issue for a few days now and couldn't find anything conclusive. If I open the game in low graphics without second monitor or other stuff the game runs just fine. In theory my specs should manage to play the game (mostly in low~medium graphics) and have some other stuff going on (like teamspeak, chrome, maybe a twitch channel in second monitor).

Some people said it could be a RAM or even an HDD even when the error said video memory, hence why I am completely lost and can't figure the cause. Is this a GPU malfunction?

Sorry about such a generic question. Any sort of help is appreciated.
 
Last edited:

Batmeat

Senior member
Feb 1, 2011
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Typically memory issues like yours are never hardware related. They are software related. Looks like you have what is called a 'memory leak'. Typically its either the game your running, driver for the video card, or both. However, windows has a built in ram testing feature since windows 7, and memtest86 is another good way to test whether your ram is bad.
 
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Nietz

Junior Member
Apr 24, 2017
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Thank you for the reply @Batmeat . I'll try the testing software and watch how it performs.

If I understood correctly, it can be simply a RAM issue and not necessarily the GPU?

Also, the driver is updated (381.65) and the problem happens in more than one game (not just in a specific one). It has also happened while rendering a video.

Edit. Windows memory diagnostic hasn't found any error.
Edit2. memtest86 also shows no errors:
2017-04-25 17:45:29 - MtSupportRunAllTests - Test execution time: 451.526 (Test 13 cumulative error count: 0)
2017-04-25 17:45:29 - Finished pass #4 (of 4) (Cumulative error count: 0)
 
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Batmeat

Senior member
Feb 1, 2011
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Your ram is ok then. It may not be the game, but likely another program you have running in the background. With windows 10 look in the bottom right hand corner of your monitor and start disabling all those programs using MSCONFIG ( press the windows button + r and type msconfig in the dialogue box) under the services and startup tabs start disabling programs, rebooting, running your game(s) and see which is the cause. It's very unlikely this is video card related.

One other thing you can do is right click on the taskbar and start the task manager. Look at the processes when you get that error. Find the process that is taking a big chunk of your memory, terminate it, restart your game(s) and see if that fixes the problem. Your original post mentioned you use Chrome. In my opinion it is kinda of a memory hog for a browser. It's what uses the most memory on my computer, but I don't render or game right now.
 
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Nietz

Junior Member
Apr 24, 2017
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So... I decided to swap GPUs and see how the PC performed. I took out my 1070 and put a much weaker 660ti. The 660ti also gave the same error.

Could this still be RAM related even when memtest86 didn't show any error? Could this, by any chance, be CPU related?
 
Last edited:
May 11, 2008
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So... I decided to swap GPUs and see how the PC performed. I took out my 1070 and put a much weaker 660ti. The 660ti also gave the same error.

Could this still be RAM related even when memtest86 didn't show any error? Could this, by any chance, be CPU related?

Try while the game is running but before it crashes with a out of memory error, a ctr+ alt + del. Then see in the task manager how much memory is used. Maybe you will notice something odd with a program using large amounts of ram. A program with a memory leak is not uncommon. A program with a memory leak means that the program is requesting memory from the os, but when the program is done using the memory, it does not free it, meaning giving it back to the os for other use. If the program does this constantly, the os is constantly appointing memory to the program until the hardware limit (which is 12GB) is reached. Also, do not forget several programs are using memory so, you are not looking for a program using 12GB. But it will be the largerst amount of memory in use.

You could also use process explorer.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/processexplorer.aspx

Also, check the services for memory use.