How To Fix DX11 Feature Level 10.0 Is Required to Run the Engine Error – Easy Fix

ByChad Buenaflor

DX11 otherwise known as DirectX 11 is an application programming interface that runs on the Windows environment. It works by handling multimedia tasks on the Microsoft platform. Although this is a stable software there are instances when certain issues can occur. In this latest installment of our troubleshooting series we will tackle the DX11 feature level 10.0 error issue.

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How To Fix DX11 Feature Level 10.0 Error Issue

Before performing any of the recommended troubleshooting steps for this particular problem you should try to restart your computer first as this will usually resolve most issues caused by a minor software glitch.

When you see the error message “DX11 feature level 10.0 is required to run the engine” appear on your computer this usually means that you don’t have the required hardware to support Direct3D Feature Level version 10.0. Your graphics card might have an outdated driver or you might have a corrupt DirectX installation. Listed below are the troubleshooting steps you need to do to fix this problem.

Check your computer DirectX version

The first thing you will need to do in this case is to verify what version of DirectX your computer is using. 

  • Open a Run box (Windows key + R)
  • Type “dxdiag” then press enter
  • The  DirectX runtime version information can be found under System Information in the System tab.

To check if your graphics card can support the required feature levels, go to the Display tab under Drivers and see which Feature Levels are supported by your graphics card. If the feature level 10_0 (10.0) is not showing among the Feature Levels entries inside DirectX Diagnostic Tool then it could be because of the following reasons:

  • Your graphics card drivers are outdated.
  • Your operating system needs to be updated. 
  • Your graphics card does not support Feature Level 10.0. The only way to fix this if this is what’s causing the problem is to get a new graphics card that supports this feature. Make sure to update your graphics card if you have the resources to do so. 

In case your graphics card does support the  Feature Level 10.0 but you are experiencing this issue then do the following steps.

Run the application using the dedicated graphics card

Most of the modern computers today have two graphics cards. One is the onboard graphics adapter which is usually integrated with the processor and the second is the dedicated graphics card unit. In case your computer is using the integrated graphics card then you will need to switch to the dedicated graphics card as this is usually the more advanced ( with more features)  of the two.

  • Open Device Manager by right-clicking on the start menu icon and then select Device Manager
  • Expand the Display adapters and then right-click on the Built-in Intel graphics adapter then click on Disable device.
  • Your Windows screen will go black for a second which means Windows is switching your Graphics card to dedicated card.
  • if you wish to re-enable your built-in graphics then repeat the above steps and click on enable device.

Check if the  DX11 Feature Level 10.0 error issue still occurs.

Update your graphics card driver

One of the reasons why this issue can occur is because you don’t have the latest graphics card driver installed. While Windows 10 will automatically install the latest driver for your graphics card sometimes it doesn’t do so, which is why you will have to do this manually.

  • Press Windows key + R, type “devmgmt.msc” and hit Enter to open Device Manager.
  • Go to Display Adapters and expand the drop-down menu. Right-click on the graphics driver and select Update Driver (Update Driver Software).
  • Click on Search automatically for updated driver software and wait while Windows scans online for drivers. Wait until it is installed and your system rebooted.

In case Windows has determined that you are already using the latest drivers then you should go to your graphics card manufacturer website and get the latest drivers from there.

For NVIDIA cards

  • Go to https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
  • Choose your Product Type, Product Series, and Product. Make sure to select the appropriate Operating System that supports latest DirectX and hit the Search button.
  • Download and install the recommended Nvidia driver.
  • Restart your computer.

For ATI cards

  • Go to https://www.amd.com/en/support. 
  • Under Manually Select Your Driver, select the product type, product family, and model. Then, select the appropriate operating system that supports Direct3D hardware feature level or Direct3D feature level 10 and click on Display Results.
  • After the driver is installed restart the computer.

Check if the  DX11 Feature Level 10.0 error issue still occurs.

Repair DirectX

This problem can usually be caused by a corrupted DirectX installation. While it is difficult to uninstall DirectX from your computer what you can do instead is to repair it.

Check if the  DX11 Feature Level 10.0 error issue still occurs.

Install update KB2670838 for Windows 7 users

If you are still hanging on to your Windows 7 operating system and are experiencing this problem then you should try to install the KB2670838 update. This windows update will enable the latest patch that supports the latest DirectX for DX 11 Feature Level 10.0 support by game developers. DirectX 12 might be supported as well. 

Check if the  DX11 Feature Level 10.0 error issue still occurs.

I hope that you found this article helpful to fix the error DX11 feature level 10.0 on your Windows XP or latest version Windows. All rights reserved.

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