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Cyberpunk 2077 crashes or the driver times out when a video plays on your second monitor (Radeon RX 9000)

Last verified October 2026Tested against AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.10.1 (20 October 2026) - current release; lists this under Known Issues, Radeon RX 9000 series (RDNA 4) - AMD's wording is "some" products, not the whole generation, Cyberpunk 2077 with AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 (added in Patch 2.13), Windows 10, Windows 11Good evidence

AMD documents this exact combination as an open known issue in Adrenalin 26.10.1: Cyberpunk 2077 with AMD FSR Upscaling, Radeon Anti-Lag and in-game frame generation all enabled, while a video plays on a secondary display, on some Radeon RX 9000 cards. The one change AMD recommends is turning off the game's own frame generation - and because Cyberpunk couples the two, you can drop frame generation and keep FSR upscaling, but not the other way round. Confirm the second-screen video is really your trigger before you change any settings: pause it, leave the monitor connected, and play.

Start here

  1. Confirm the video on the second display is really the trigger
  2. Turn off the game's frame generation - the one change AMD recommends

This page is about one specific, vendor-acknowledged combination. AMD's entry is a single line in a long release-notes list, and it names four conditions together without saying which one is at fault. What follows is that line turned into something you can act on: how to confirm you have this problem rather than a lookalike, which of the four conditions AMD actually endorses removing, and what each one costs you.

Symptoms

  • Cyberpunk 2077 crashes to desktop, or hangs with a screen flicker, while a video plays on another monitor
  • A Windows notification reading "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered"
  • It is intermittent - you can play for a while before it happens
  • You are on a Radeon RX 9000 series card with FSR upscaling, Radeon Anti-Lag and the game's frame generation all enabled
  • Pausing the video on the second display appears to stop the crashes
  • The game itself may go black and need restarting even though Windows says the driver recovered

Why this happens

The combination AMD names, not any single setting

AMD's 26.10.1 known-issues entry does not blame one feature. It names four conditions together: AMD FSR Upscaling, AMD Radeon Anti-Lag, in-game frame generation, and video playback on a secondary display, on some Radeon RX 9000 series products. AMD publishes no cause and no mechanism, and the only change it recommends is disabling in-game frame generation. So treat the other three as conditions you can remove to test, not as things AMD has said are at fault - and do not expect a page anywhere to tell you which one matters, because that has not been documented.

Confirm the video on the second display is really the trigger · Turn off the game's frame generation - the one change AMD recommends · Turn off Radeon Anti-Lag for Cyberpunk 2077 · Turn off FSR upscaling - the last of the three features, and the most expensive

Why the game dies instead of just flickering

AMD's entry says "application crash or driver timeout", which are two outcomes of one event. Windows' timeout detection and recovery resets the graphics card when it does not finish work in the allotted time - two seconds by default - and the visible artifact is meant to be nothing more than a screen flicker plus the message "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered". Microsoft notes that an application which does not handle having its graphics device reset underneath it may simply render black afterwards and need restarting. That is why the same underlying timeout is a crash for one person and a flicker for another, and why "crash" and "driver timeout" belong in the same entry.

Fixes

Confirm the video on the second display is really the trigger

about 30 min

AMD's entry only describes crashes while something plays video on another screen. One test session tells you whether you are reading the right page at all.

Applies to: Radeon RX 9000 series, Cyberpunk 2077

  1. Note what is playing on the second monitor when it crashes - a YouTube or Twitch tab, a video file, a Discord stream. AMD's wording is "video playback", so treat the decoding as the common factor rather than any one app.
  2. Close or pause it. Leave the second monitor connected and configured exactly as it was, so that the only thing you changed is the video.
  3. Play Cyberpunk 2077 for at least as long as it normally takes to crash, and ideally twice that.
  4. Stable now? AMD's known issue fits and the steps below apply. Still crashing with nothing playing? This is not the issue AMD describes - read the last section of this page instead of changing graphics settings.

Source: AMD

Turn off the game's frame generation - the one change AMD recommends

about 10 min

This is AMD's own stated workaround, and in Cyberpunk frame generation is a separate switch from the upscaler, so you keep FSR image quality while giving up only the generated frames.

Applies to: Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 2.13 and later, Radeon RX 9000 series

  1. In Cyberpunk 2077, open Settings > Graphics.
  2. Find the FSR Frame Generation setting and turn it off. CD PROJEKT RED documents it as a setting separate from the AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 upscaler, which lives in the Quick Preset section.
  3. Leave FSR upscaling on if you want it. CD PROJEKT RED states that FSR Frame Generation can only be used when FSR 3 upscaling is enabled - the dependency runs one way, so dropping frame generation does not cost you the upscaler.
  4. Restart the game and play with the second-screen video running again. Your frame rate will drop, because the generated frames are gone; that is the trade AMD's workaround asks for.

Confirmed by the vendor.

Source: AMD, CD PROJEKT RED

Turn off Radeon Anti-Lag for Cyberpunk 2077

about 10 min

Anti-Lag is the second condition in AMD's list. AMD does not say removing it helps, so this is a test rather than a documented fix - but it costs input latency instead of frame rate, which some people would rather pay.

Applies to: Radeon RX 9000 series

  1. Open AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition and type "Anti-Lag" into its search box. AMD documents that search box as the way to reach a setting without hunting through tabs, which matters because the menu layout moves between releases.
  2. Turn Radeon Anti-Lag off - globally, or just on the Cyberpunk 2077 profile. AMD documents Anti-Lag as settable per game through application profiles.
  3. AMD's guidance also gives Anti-Lag a hotkey, Alt+L by default, which is handy if you want it enabled for other games. Note that AMD's article here is an older one, so treat the exact menu wording as a guide rather than gospel.
  4. Play again with the video running. If this is what settles it, you have traded input latency for stability and can put frame generation back.

Source: AMD, AMD, AMD

Turn off FSR upscaling - the last of the three features, and the most expensive

about 10 min

The third condition AMD lists. Try it last, because in Cyberpunk turning off FSR 3 upscaling takes frame generation with it whether you wanted that or not.

Applies to: Cyberpunk 2077, Radeon RX 9000 series

  1. In Settings > Graphics, move the upscaler away from AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3, or turn upscaling off entirely.
  2. Expect to lose frame generation at the same time: CD PROJEKT RED states FSR Frame Generation can only be used when FSR 3 upscaling is enabled.
  3. If you want upscaling without the FSR 3 path, CD PROJEKT RED kept FSR 2.1 in the game alongside FSR 3 precisely so players can pick their own balance of image quality and performance.
  4. If this is the step that stops the crashes, keep in mind that which of AMD's three named features actually matters is undocumented - so re-test after the next driver release rather than assuming you have to live without the upscaler permanently.

Source: AMD, CD PROJEKT RED

Check whether a later Adrenalin release lists this as fixed before you change drivers

Check before applyingabout 40 min

AMD lists this as open in 26.10.1, its current release. When a fix arrives it will arrive as a driver - but swapping drivers is the most disruptive thing on this page, so read before you install.

Applies to: Radeon RX 9000 series

Before you do this

Changing or reinstalling a graphics driver can leave a machine without a working display driver if the install fails, and the screen will blank during installation. Close other applications first, and do not start this immediately before you need the computer for something else.

  1. Open AMD's current release notes and search the page for Cyberpunk 2077 before installing anything.
  2. If the entry has moved from Known Issues to Fixed Issues, updating is the fix and you can put your settings back.
  3. If it is still listed as open - as it is in 26.10.1 - there is nothing to gain here for this specific issue. Stay where you are and use the workaround above rather than driver-hopping.
  4. If you do decide to move to an older release, AMD's notes recommend using the AMD Cleanup Utility when downgrading.

Source: AMD

Known issues

  • Open in AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.10.1, whose notes were last updated 20 October 2026. AMD lists an intermittent application crash or driver timeout in Cyberpunk 2077 with AMD FSR Upscaling, AMD Radeon Anti-Lag and in-game frame generation enabled during video playback on a secondary display, on some Radeon RX 9000 series products, and recommends disabling in-game frame generation. No cause has been published and no fix has shipped.

    Affects AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.10.1, Radeon RX 9000 series · Status: workaround only

If none of this worked

If the crashes continue with nothing playing on the second display, AMD's entry does not describe your problem and the frame-generation workaround is unlikely to help. Driver timeouts while a video plays alongside a game have been reported on Radeon cards across several generations and long before this entry existed, so the same symptom on an RX 6000 or RX 7000 card is not this bug. Two other entries in the same 26.10.1 notes can also look like this one: a crash or hang when switching applications or toggling overlays with in-game FSR Frame Generation enabled on RX 9000 cards, and a crash when opening or closing an overlay such as Xbox Game Bar while AMD's Performance Metrics Overlay is on. If your crash lines up with pressing a key rather than with the video, read those instead. And if Windows bug-checks outright rather than recovering, note that Microsoft's default is to do that on the sixth GPU hang when five or more hangs and recoveries land inside one minute - that points at repeated hangs, not at a separate bug.

Common questions

Does this affect every Radeon RX 9000 card?
AMD's wording is "some Radeon RX 9000 series graphics products", which deliberately stops short of the whole generation. It names no specific models, so there is no list to check yourself against. If you have an RX 9000 card and the four conditions match, treat yourself as a candidate and test rather than assuming either way.
Can I keep FSR upscaling if I turn frame generation off?
Yes. CD PROJEKT RED documents FSR Frame Generation as a separate toggle that requires FSR 3 upscaling to be enabled. The dependency runs one way only: frame generation needs the upscaler, the upscaler does not need frame generation. That is what makes AMD's recommended workaround cheaper than it first sounds - you lose generated frames, not image quality.
Should I roll back to an older driver?
AMD does not recommend that for this issue. It does name a rollback elsewhere in the same release notes - War Thunder on RX 5000 cards, where it tells you to install 26.9.1 - but for Cyberpunk 2077 the only recommendation is to disable in-game frame generation. Rolling back here is a guess, and it costs you the other fixes and new-game support in the current release.
Why would a video on another monitor matter at all?
AMD has not said, and anything more specific would be a guess. Its entry names video playback on a secondary display as one of the conditions without explaining the mechanism. What is documented is the outcome: Windows resets the graphics card when work does not complete within about two seconds, shows "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered", and an application that does not handle that reset can end up rendering black and needing a restart.

Did this fix work?

If a step is wrong, outdated, or did not help, telling us is the fastest way to get it corrected. Reports are reviewed before new articles.

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Related problems

Sources

  • AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.10.1 Driver Release NotesOfficial

    AMD · Release notes · checked Oct 22, 2026

    • AMD lists, under Known Issues, an intermittent application crash or driver timeout while playing Cyberpunk 2077 with AMD FSR Upscaling, AMD Radeon Anti-Lag and in-game frame generation enabled during video playback on a secondary display on some Radeon RX 9000 series graphics products
    • AMD recommends that users experiencing this issue disable in-game frame generation
    • The notes were last updated 20 October 2026 and 26.10.1 is the current release
    • The same notes recommend the AMD Cleanup Utility when downgrading to a previous version of AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition
    • The same notes list a separate crash when opening or closing other overlays such as Xbox Game Bar while the Performance Metrics Overlay is enabled, and a separate RX 9000 crash or hang when switching applications or toggling overlays with in-game AMD FSR Frame Generation enabled
    • For War Thunder on Radeon RX 5000 series cards the same notes recommend using AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.9.1
  • AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 - Cyberpunk 2077Official

    CD PROJEKT RED · Support page · checked Oct 22, 2026

    • AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 was introduced in Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 2.13 and is enabled in Settings > Graphics in the Quick Preset section
    • FSR Frame Generation has its own separate setting in the game
    • FSR Frame Generation can only be used when AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 3 upscaling is enabled
    • CD PROJEKT RED kept FSR 2.1 available alongside FSR 3 so players can choose their preferred balance of visual quality and performance
    • CD PROJEKT RED recommends a baseline of at least 60 FPS before enabling Frame Generation
  • WDDM Support for Timeout Detection and Recovery (TDR)Official

    Microsoft · Documentation · checked Oct 22, 2026

    • Windows timeout detection and recovery resets the graphics card when it takes longer than expected to complete an operation, and the default timeout period in Windows is two seconds
    • After a successful recovery Windows displays an informational message to the end user saying "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered" and logs it in Event Viewer
    • The only visible artifact from hang detection to recovery is meant to be a screen flicker
    • Some applications that do not handle the device being reset might just render black at the end of this recovery, which requires the end user to restart these applications
    • By default the OS bug-checks the computer on the sixth or more GPU hang when five or more GPU hangs and subsequent recoveries occur within one minute
  • How to Configure Radeon Chill and Radeon Anti-LagOfficial

    AMD · Documentation · checked Oct 22, 2026

    • Radeon Anti-Lag reduces input-to-response latency and is an optional feature that can be toggled on and off during gameplay with an assigned hotkey, Alt+L by default
    • Radeon Anti-Lag can be enabled per game or application via application profiles within AMD's settings app
    • Radeon Chill and Radeon Anti-Lag cannot be enabled at the same time
  • Monitor Performance Metrics with AMD Software: Adrenalin EditionOfficial

    AMD · Documentation · checked Oct 22, 2026

    • AMD documents reaching a setting by typing its name into the search box in AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition rather than navigating the tabs
    • AMD notes that depending on system configuration some options and settings may not be available or exactly as shown, and its own steps were written against an earlier Adrenalin release