Resolve AMD Driver Timeout (TDR) Crashes

Problem overview

Your screen goes black for a few seconds during gameplay or regular use, followed by an error message stating “AMD bug report tool has detected a driver timeout.” This is caused by the Windows Timeout Detection and Recovery (TDR) feature resetting an unresponsive GPU.

Common causes

• Corrupted AMD Adrenalin software installation
• Multi-Plane Overlay (MPO) conflicts with certain games or Chromium browsers
• GPU overheating or unstable factory overclocks
• Insufficient power delivery from the PSU via PCIe cables

Solution 1: Clean install AMD drivers with DDU

1. Download Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) and the latest AMD driver.
2. Boot into Safe Mode.
3. Run DDU, select AMD, and click Clean and restart.
4. After rebooting, install the new AMD driver.
5. In the installer, select the Factory Reset option if available.

Solution 2: Disable Multi-Plane Overlay (MPO) via registry

1. Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Dwm.
3. Right-click the right pane, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it OverlayTestMode.
4. Double-click the new value and set the Value data to 5.
5. Click OK and restart your computer.

Solution 3: Check thermals and power limits

1. Open AMD Adrenalin software and go to the Performance > Tuning tab.
2. Check your GPU temperatures under load to ensure they are within safe limits.
3. Try lowering the Power Limit by 5-10% to stabilize an aging or factory-overclocked GPU.
4. Ensure your GPU has separate PCIe power cables from the power supply, rather than a single daisy-chained cable.
5. Download and install the latest chipset driver from your motherboard manufacturer’s website.

Solution: Roll back to the previous driver version

If the issue started immediately after updating your graphics, audio, or network driver, rolling back to the previous known-stable driver version is the fastest fix.

1. Press Win + X and select Device Manager.
2. Expand the section for your hardware (e.g., Display adapters or Sound, video and game controllers).
3. Right-click your device and select Properties.
4. Click the Driver tab.
5. Click Roll Back Driver (if the button is grayed out, your previous driver files were removed by Windows Update).
6. Select a reason when prompted (e.g., “Previous version of the driver seemed more reliable”) and click Yes.
7. Restart your computer.