VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE, the blue screen, explained and fixed
This stop code (0x00000116) means the graphics driver stopped responding and Windows tried its recovery trick, Timeout Detection and Recovery (TDR), which resets the graphics card without a reboot. When the reset also fails, you get this blue screen instead. The crash screen usually names the graphics driver file, such as nvlddmkm.sys (NVIDIA), atikmdag.sys or amdkmdag.sys (AMD), or igdkmd64.sys (Intel).
The fix, in order
- Do a clean graphics driver install. Download the newest driver from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel. During install choose the clean installation option if offered. Corrupted leftover driver files are the most common cause, and a clean install replaces them all.
- Update the chipset driver as well. The graphics card talks to the system through the chipset and PCIe controller; an old chipset driver can make a good graphics driver look broken.
- Check temperatures and clean the card. A graphics card that overheats freezes exactly like this. Watch GPU temperature under load with the maker’s tool, clear dust from fans and heatsinks, and confirm the fans spin.
- Remove every overclock. GPU core and memory overclocks, including factory overclocks raised further in tuning utilities, and CPU/RAM overclocks too. Test at completely stock speeds; TDR failures are a classic marginal-stability symptom.
- Rule out the power supply. A graphics card under load draws the most power in the system. A weak or aging power supply sags at exactly that moment. If freezes happen only in games, try a known-good supply or test the card in another PC.
- Test the system RAM. Run Windows Memory Diagnostic. Bad system memory corrupts the data the driver works with and can produce this code even though the graphics card is fine.
Do not start by editing the TdrDelay registry value. Guides often suggest raising the timeout so Windows waits longer before resetting the driver. That hides a freezing card rather than fixing it, and a hard freeze with a long delay feels worse than a crash. Fix the driver, heat, or hardware first.
If it still happens
If the card still fails on a clean driver at stock clocks with good temperatures, test with integrated graphics or a different card if available. A card that produces VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE across two systems or two clean installs is failing hardware, and replacement, not another driver, is the fix.
Common questions
Does VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE mean my graphics card is dead? Not usually. Driver corruption and overheating account for most cases, and both are fixable. The card itself becomes the likely cause only when the crashes persist across a clean driver install, at stock speeds, with normal temperatures, ideally confirmed in a second machine.
Why does it only happen in one game? Games stress different parts of the driver and card. One title may use a feature path that triggers a driver bug, or push power and heat past what other games reach. Update the driver first (game-specific fixes ship constantly), then verify the game’s files, then look at temperature and power under that game’s load.
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