Fix DX11 Feature Level 10.0 Is Required To Run The Engine

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A common issue faced by many PUBG, Fortnite, and ARK: Survival Evolved games is the popping of the message “DX11 feature level 10.0 is required to run the engine”.

This is accompanied by the crashing of the game which is bound to make any gamer fidgety.

The crux of this message is that the application which is running is unable to access the Direct 3D feature-level version 10.0.

This message is displayed when either there is an issue with the DirectX or when an outdated graphics card is used.

If you are bothered about this problem and you are thinking twice before running any graphic intensive application then you can rest a little easy now.

Our simple suggestions and tweaks will not only help you fix this problem easily but also efficiently.

Make it through to the end of this article and you will never have to come across this hassle again.

What Is DirectX?

A collection of application programming interfaces (API’s), Microsoft DirectX is mainly used for running multimedia related tasks like game programming on other Microsoft platforms.

Released 25 years ago, DirectX can work in many operating systems and can also provide the means to a program to determine the hardware capabilities.

DirectX Runtime Vs Direct 3D Hardware Feature Level

The DirectX Runtime is mainly used to pertain to the DirectX version that the operating system can suppose.

Oppositely, the Direct 3D hardware feature level names the support that your video hardware (GPU) provides. These two should not be confused.

We should keep this in mind and not take it for granted that by simply having the latest DirectX runtime environment installed in our PC.

Our hardware would be sufficient to accustom the Direct3D Hardware Feature level 10.0.

Even if you put in extra effort and manage to customize your PC accordingly by procuring the latest Windows version to support the newest DirectX API’s.

The GPU card may not support the required feature levels.This is a regular occurrence for many integrated and outdated GPU’s.

How To Find Out If DirectX Is Installed? 

Assuming you have Windows 10.0 along with its latest updates installed, you should be having DirectX 12.0 already installed.

However, your GPU must not be outdated.If your GPU is outdated, you would not be able to use the new DirectX API’s.

You can check if your DirectX version is supported by your OS by following these steps –

Step 1 – Run the DirectX diagnostic tool by opening a run box (Windows + R) and typing “dxdiag”

Step 2 – Note your DirectX runtime version under “system information” of the “System” tab.

Step 3 – Tap on the “Display” tab under drivers and note the “Feature levels” supported by your Graphics card.

If the feature level 10_0 (10.0) is not displayed in “Feature level” entries inside the DirectX diagnostic tool then these can be one of the suspected issues –

Your Operating system requires an additional platform update (For Windows 7 and Windows XP users)

Your graphics card might not support Feature Level 10.0. to fix this issue, you need to procure a new Graphics Card.

Your graphics card (GPU) might be running with outdated drivers. In that case, unless your OS has a driver that can guide the graphics hardware on how to use the specific feature level.

Note – DirectX has backward compatibility. This means, if you have DirectX 12, then all the previous runtime distribution versions should also be present in your system. This is also applicable to DirectX 10 and DirectX 11.

Fixing The “DX11 Feature Level 10.0 Is Required To Run The Engine” Error? 

Upon opening the DirectX Diagnostic tool, if it is shown that you have DirectX 10 runtime or newer and your graphics card supports the essential levels then things should run smoothly for you.

However, if you face the same “DX11 feature level 10.0 is required to run the engine” error message again then we are here to sort it out for you.

We have carefully sorted and selected four methods to solve the “DX11 feature level 10.0 is required to run the engine” error according to user reviews and our own experience.

Simply choose any of the below mentioned methods and follow the steps properly.

However, keep in mind that these methods will only work if your GPU can support Feature level 10.0.

You can look up your graphics card specifications before proceeding with any of the methods.

Method –1 Running The Application With The Dedicated GPU

When getting this error message on a notebook or laptop, it is highly likely that you have both a dedicated GPU as well as an integrated solution.

During this scenario, your operating system itself will decide which one to use by calculating the needs of the application engine.

This decision-making process can be hijacked by the Battery saving mode if it prioritizes saving the battery of your system to the usage of the GPU.

It can switch to the use of the integrated GPU if your system calculates that it would be the more economical option for your battery.

You can avoid this from happening by uninstalling your battery manager. However, if you do not want to commit to this radical step

Step 1 – Right-click on your game icon and choose “Run with Graphics processor”

Step 2 – Select your dedicated Graphics card and check if the “DX11 feature level 10.0 is required to run the engine” pops up.

Step 3 – If your game loads successfully then simply come back to this setting.

Step 4 – Tap on change default graphics manager and set this as the permanent method in your Control Panel.

Method – 2 Updating Your Graphics Card Driver

One of the more obvious solutions, you will need to update your Graphics Card settings to fix the “DX11 feature level 10.0 is require to run the engine” error message.

It would be safe and dependable to follow the method as stated by the video card manufacturer than to choose any other method.

The newer versions of Windows (Windows 8 and Windows 10) should be installing the software driver essential for your graphics card on its own.

However, the issue lies in the fact whether your operating system knows how to properly use the required feature level 10.0 despite having the proper supporting hardware.

This is because the version your OS downloads on its own might not be the latest version.

Let us now try and address this issue with a universal method we have mentioned down below.

 Installing Graphics Driver Via Device Manager  

This is a good place to begin your update of the graphics driver via Device Manager.

The drawback of this method is that it relies heavily on Windows Update to search for the necessary driver online.

Step 1 – Tap “Windows Key” + R and type “devmgmt.msc”. Tap Enter and open Device Manager.

Step 2 – Scroll to Display Adapters, expand the Display drop-down menu. Right-click on Graphics Driver and choose Update Driver Software. (in this option, you might see 2 entries.

This happens in notebooks and laptops which have both a dedicated graphics card as well as an integrated one. Presently, Intel only produces the integrated ones.

The dedicated ones on the other hand have the much higher processing power and hence are the ones we are concerned with. Please choose the dedicated GPU.

Step 3 – Click on Updated Driver Software and wait till Windows searches the internet for drivers. In case a newer one is found, wait till its installed and your PC is rebooted.

Once you have the new driver installed, run your program again and see if you are facing the problem or not.

 Users With  NVIDIA Graphics Card

If you happen to have a dedicated GPU of Nvidia GeForce then you can update the driver in two ways.

The easier solution would be to download GeForce Experience and let it work its magic by automatically identifying your GPU and installing the required drivers. This process is handy as it saves you a lot of manual effort.

However, sometimes the Geforce experience software can glitch in certain models of motherboards. That is why we have this alternate solution that will let you manually download the latest graphics card driver.

Step 1 – Visit the Nvidia official page and choose your Product type, Product series and Product Select the OS and click on Search.

Note – Another efficient way would be to click on Graphics Driver. This allows your system to be automatically scanned and the required driver for your GPU is downloaded.

However, for this to work, you might be required to have the latest version of Java downloaded.

Step 2 – Download and install the recommended Nvidia Driver.

Step 3 – This should now lead to your PC automatically rebooting to install the latest software. If your PC does not reboot, then manually restart your computer to check if the problem is fixed.

Users With ATI Graphics  Card 

Gaming Evolved is the parallel of GeForce Experience from AMD. This AMS tool can be exploited to automatically update your graphics card drivers.

Therefore, not only does Gaming Evolved optimize your gaming experience by altering the graphics setting but also, keeps your PC updated with the latest graphics card drivers.

The following are the steps for you to follow and download the driver manually –

Step 1 – Go to the official AMD website.

Step 2 – Go to Manually Select Your Driver and select the Product family, Product type accordingly. Select the Operating System as required and tap Display Results.

In case you are not sure of your GPU model or want to automate further then tap on the Download Now option underAutomatically detect and Install Your Driver.

This results in an ATI tool scanning your OS and installing the application it deems fit.

Step 3 – Once the new driver is installed, restart your PC and check if the error occurs.

Users With Integrated Intel Graphics 

ATI mostly produces integrated graphics cards. More often than not the driver installation is successfully executed through the Device Manager (as explained in the first method of this article).

In case the problem is still not being solved, go and download it from Intel’s Download Center.

Method 3 – Repairing The DirectX  Runtime Environment  

Sometimes the APIs in the DirectX package breaks and you cannot really uninstall DirectX effectively.

However, you can repair most DirectX files by using DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer and DirectX Redist (June 2020).

Step 1 – Download the DirectX End User Runtime Web Installer. Right-click on executable and go on to Run as Administrator to grant it the required privileges.

Step 2 – Follow the instructions and prompts displayed on the screen to be sure that all your Direct X 9.0c files are safe and sound.

Step 3 – Go on to download the DirectX Redist (June 2020) and extract the DirectX SDK to somewhere accessible.

Step 4 – Go on to the extracted files and open the DX Setup executable.

Step 5 – Carefully follow the directions and reinstall the DirectX components.

Step 6 – After completion of the above step, reboot your system to see if the problem still persists.

Method 4 – Installing The Platform  Update KB2670838 (Windows 7 Only)

In order to enable DX 11 feature level 10.0, Windows 7 requires this additional platform update – KB2670838 unlike Windows 8 or 10.

Although it is labeled as an optional update, you should download and install it to give it a try.

To know for sure if this was the problem causing the error,

Step 1 – Go to the official Microsoft Website and download this platform update.

Step 2 – Install the update, reboot your PC and check if the problem is solved.

Conclusion 

We fully understand your frustration and concern in case you are facing this issue and that is why we have chalked up these simple and effective ways to save your time and resolve your problems.

Follow the instructions carefully and one of the methods are bound to work in your favor.The four chosen methods have a decent success rate with Method 1 being the most effective.

Our methods are genuine and time-saving since they also do not require you to download any other external tools or apps to help you with your problem. Go ahead and enjoy an error free experience.