Dragonflight Patch 10.2: DirectX 11 Memory Leak Workaround
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Other than the DirectX 12 bug, Dragonflight Patch 10.2 is also grappling with a memory leak problem. This issue emerged with the release of Patch 10.2. Ever since, it has been affecting players who use DirectX 11, mainly Windows and Mac gamers. If you find it hard to take a break from WoW for the time being, don’t worry. There’s a temporary workaround while awaiting the permanent fix.
How to Fix the DirectX 11 Memory Leak for Windows Users
Windows users can switch to either DirectX 12 or DirectX 11 Legacy, offering a temporary workaround for the issue. According to Blizzard’s support article, there are two ways to change your DirectX version:
- Within the game itself, go to the settings menu: Escape > System > Advanced > Graphics API allows users to make the switch, followed by a simple game restart.
- Through the Battle.net desktop app. Navigate to Game Settings, select World of Warcraft, and access Additional command line arguments. Here, you will find specific commands such as -d3d11legacy, –d3d11, or -d3d12. They are the DirectX versions. Choose your desired one and click ‘Done’ to preserve the settings.
You can check out their official instruction here:
How to Fix the DirectX 11 Memory Leak for Mac Users
Unfortunately, the situation is a bit more complicated for Mac users. There isn’t a straightforward way to switch DirectX versions. To prevent client crashes on Mac, your only option is to enter the following command in the chat:
/console gxrestart
However, it’s important to note that this approach will only temporarily reduce the client’s memory usage. It will gradually increase again over time. So, you will need to retype said command every 30 minutes to one hour for optimal performance.
The good news is that Blizzard has identified the bug. It’s an erroneous placement of std::deque::clear() within a code block intended only for internal clients. At the moment, they are actively working on a solution. Plans are in place to introduce a hotfix next week to rectify the problem, and its release is expected to align with the upcoming weekly reset.
“We’ve identified and are working on a fix for unbounded memory growth that’s affecting Windows users using DX11 and all Mac users.
We should ideally have a hotfix build deployed early next week with the fix.
In the meantime, typing /console gxrestart in chat should cause the client to jump back down to normal memory usage (but will keep growing again after).
On Windows, using DX12 or DX11 Legacy backends should avoid the bug all together.For those curious about the code side of things, the bug was an std::deque::clear() call that was incorrectly placed in a code block that is only compiled in for internal clients. That made it so the bug never happened for us in internal testing but had the unbounded growth in public clients.”
— Blizzard
Comments
Cant change it to DX11. Gives an error that the command is wrong and the game cant start
i have leak with Directx12 also…
Did you try switching to DX11? I have an AMD GPU, and with DX12, the game wouldn’t start. So, I switched to DX11, and it seems to be working without any problems. I haven’t noticed a drop in FPS or anything.