DX11 Feature Level 10.0 Is Required to Run the Engine

DX11 feature level 10.0 is required to run the engine that occurs when the program doesn’t have Direct3D Hardware Feature Level. The game engine requires this. It brings out the restricted application engine, which finds it difficult to use Direct3D Feature Level version 10.0.

DX11 Feature Level 10.0 Is Required to Run the Engine

If the OS has the freshest DirectX version, DX11 Feature Level 10.0 Is Required to Run the Engine error emerges. It depicts that the GPU cannot meet the minimum terms or is running on outdated driver software. This error occurs whenever a user tries to operate games or other applications that require inclusive graphical processing.

What is DirectX?

DirectX can be said to be a set of application programming interfaces (APIs). Microsoft developed it. Its primary goal was to take care of tasks related to game programming and multimedia on all Microsoft-affiliated programs. The APIs help us with DirectX compatible programs. It also provides us with hardware-accelerated multimedia support. DirectX allows other games or programs to determine your hardware capabilities and gives you the best experience.

DirectX Runtime vs Direct3D Hardware Feature Level

Users usually confuse the DirectX runtime environment with the Direct3D Hardware Feature Level. The DirectX Runtime tells us about the DirectX version that the Operating System can support.  Whereas, the Direct3d Hardware Feature Level tells us about the support that your video hardware or GPU provides. Although at times hardware cannot support Direct3D Hardware Feature Level 10.0 after the download.

Moreover, if your Windows version can manage the latest DirectX APIs, you may be older or integrated GPU cards sometimes do not support the required feature levels.

How to Know If DirectX is Installed

If you already have Windows 10, DirectX 12.0 Runtime is automatically in your operating system for the latest Windows update. Your GPU or Graphics card has to support the new DirectX API. To check which type of DirectX version is supported by your OS, you’ll need to run the built-in DirectX Diagnostic Tool. It can be entered on any version just by opening the Run box and typing “dxdiag“.

You can simply view your DirectX runtime version, if you want to, in the System tab under System Information. To see whether your Graphics Card can support the required feature levels or not, go to Drivers. Then, go for the Display tab under it for the Feature Levels that might be supported by your GPU.

If You Are Unable to Install DirectX?

Your graphics card has outdated drivers and needs to be updated. If your system has a particular driver that directs the graphics hardware in the field on the ways to use the respective feature level it is possible that it simply won’t shop up inside the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. On how to use the respective feature level, it won’t shop up inside the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. If the feature level 10.0 is not showing inside the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, go through the following cases:

1. Your OS might require a new platform update that applies to only Windows 7 and Windows XP users.

2. Your GPU might not support Feature Level 10.0. In this case, the appropriate solution would be to buy a new GPU or a graphics card.

3. You have to keep in mind that DirectX has backward compatibility, i.e. if you have DirectX 12 then it is compulsory for all the previous runtime distributions to be present in the system. There is no exception for DirectX 11 and DirectX 10.

Some games, however, require older DirectX APIs. They are obsolete on Windows 10. You can only find them on DirectX 9.0c or others that are lower. When this happens, a particular distribution will be required to run the program. Although the latest version of DirectX is 12.0, there is a vast majority of games that still depend entirely on feature levels that might be implemented with the DirectX 10 runtime.

4 Ways to Fix DX11 Feature Level 10.0 Is Required to Run the Engine Error

If the given Direct3D feature level is supported by your GPU or your Graphics card and to run the application, you must have the components that are required. However, despite meeting the requirements, there might still be the error “DX11 feature level 10.0 is required to run the engine”.

You can try applying one of the solutions in this article. They can help you fix the error. You can try and follow each method until you come across a particular solution that works for you.

Method 1: Update your Graphics Card Driver

The absolute way to do so is solely dependent on the video card manufacturer. Windows 10 and Windows 8, i.e. the newest Windows versions, should automatically install the software driver. Your graphics card needs it. But if the OS automatically downloads and installs a driver for GPU, chances are it’s not the latest version available. If your GPU doesn’t know how to use Feature Level 10.0, your system reports this error. A relevant graphics driver can solve this. Regardless of your GPU manufacturer, there’s one way to install the driver, but that isn’t secure.

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Method 2: Run the Application with the Dedicated GPU

An error denotes that you might have an integrated solution or a dedicated GPU. Your system will decide among the two cards on which GPU card to use. It is done by analyzing how the application engine requires many resources. However, your battery-saving utility can revoke this easily. If it’s set to battery-saving mode, the system is forced to start the program with the integrated graphics card.

It can be easily rectified by going for the “Performance mode“. You can also try to uninstall the software altogether. However, if you don’t wish to uninstall the battery manager, don’t worry. Your dedicated GPU can be forced by going for the Run with the graphics processor. Select your dedicated card to see if there is no more the”DX11 feature level 10.0 is required to run the engine“.

 Method 3: Repair the DirectX Runtime Environment

The APIs included in the DirectX package whenever breaks, unfortunately, you just cannot uninstall the DirectX. Plus, any updates/repairs are handled by Windows Update. Except for those from DX12, all DirectX files can be repaired. You can use DirectX End-User Runtime Web installer and DirectX Redist (June 2010).

Just download the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer and right-click on the executable. Choose the option Run as administrator for elevated privileges. Lastly, make sure that there is intactness in all your DirectX 9.0c files.

Method 4: Installing the Platform Update KB2670838

Windows 7, unlike Windows 8 and Windows 10, requires an additional platform update (KB2670838). It is to enable DX11 Feature Level 10.0. It is labeled as an optional update. It is so that if you might have missed it.

To know if this is the cause of the error; you can either apply all pending optional updates. You can also download the KB2670838 platform update. After all the updates are installed, just reboot your computer and see if it resolved the issue.

Conclusion

In conclusion, go through the guide carefully. Do not mess with drivers if you’re not sure what you’re doing. I hope this guide proves useful to you. Thank you for reading!