You would expect a Windows feature built to reduce stuttering to do exactly that. For CONTROL Resonant, it often does the opposite. Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling — HAGS — is supposed to hand memory management directly to your graphics card. The promise: lower latency, smoother frame pacing. The reality for this game: more crashes, more “Out of Video Memory” errors, more DXGI_DEVICE_HUNG freezes.
It sounds backwards. But the mechanism explains why.
The reality for this game: more crashes, more 'Out of Video Memory' errors, more DXGI_DEVICE_HUNG freezes.
What HAGS Actually Does
HAGS shifts a specific responsibility from the CPU to the GPU. Normally, the CPU orchestrates which video memory pages the GPU can access and when. With HAGS enabled, the GPU’s own scheduler takes over that task. Microsoft designed this to reduce overhead on the CPU and shave milliseconds off input latency.
Nvidia GPUs and AMD GPUs both support HAGS. It has been available since Windows 10 version 2004. Many modern games benefit from it. CONTROL Resonant is not one of them.
The Conflict with CONTROL Resonant
CONTROL Resonant has known memory management problems. The sources list “Out of Video Memory” and “DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED” as recurring errors. These errors occur when the GPU driver detects that the video memory state is corrupt or unreachable and resets the device.
HAGS adds an abstraction layer between the game engine and the GPU. When CONTROL Resonant requests video memory — for textures, shaders, or render targets — the request passes through the GPU scheduler instead of the CPU scheduler. For a game that already pushes VRAM limits, this extra layer introduces timing mismatches.
The game engine expects memory to be available when it asks. With HAGS, the GPU scheduler may hold the allocation slightly longer or reorder it. The engine times out. The driver resets. You get the crash.
This is why the troubleshooting guides recommend toggling HAGS: the setting changes how memory flows, and for this specific game, the flow works better under the older CPU-driven model.
Where the “Out of Video Memory” Error Comes From
That error does not always mean you lack VRAM. It means the allocation failed. HAGS can cause the failure even when you have 8 GB or 12 GB of available video memory. The scheduler miscommunicates the availability, the engine requests memory it cannot get, and the error fires.
The DXGI_DEVICE_HUNG error follows the same pattern. The GPU stops responding within the timeout window because it is spending cycles on scheduling tasks the game did not anticipate.
Toggle It Off First
If you are seeing crashes in CONTROL Resonant, turning HAGS off is one of the fastest fixes to test. It takes two steps and a restart.
Open Settings on Windows. Go to System > Display > Graphics. Click Change default graphics settings. Find Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling. Turn it Off. Restart your PC.
Launch the game. If the crash stops, HAGS was the conflict.
Do you need HAGS on for other games? Check. Some games — Doom Eternal, Cyberpunk 2077, Baldur’s Gate 3 — show measurable gains with HAGS on certain hardware. But HAGS is not a global performance multiplier. It does not make every game run better. For CONTROL Resonant, the evidence leans the other way.
When Keeping It On Works
A small number of players report stable performance with HAGS on. This usually happens on specific hardware combinations — Nvidia RTX 40-series cards paired with Windows 11 23H2 or later, with the latest Game Ready driver installed. The newer driver branch (version 560 and above) changed how it handles HAGS scheduling. If you own a 4060 or 4070 and have updated to the August 2025 driver or later, test with HAGS on first.
For everyone else — especially users with RTX 30-series, AMD 6000-series, or Intel Arc GPUs — start with HAGS off.
What to Do If the Game Still Crashes
Disabling HAGS fixes one specific conflict. If crashes continue, the real problem may be elsewhere. The same driver that works with HAGS may still be unstable. Use DDU in safe mode, install the clean driver, and select the “Perform Clean Installation” checkbox.
The game also reacts poorly to overlays. Disable Steam overlay, Discord overlay, and Nvidia GeForce Experience overlay before launching. These hook into the rendering pipeline at the same level as HAGS scheduling, and multiple hooks compound the timing problem.
The Broader Pattern
HAGS was designed for a future where GPU-driven rendering pipelines are the norm — DirectX 12 Ultimate, mesh shaders, work graphs. CONTROL Resonant uses a modified version of the Northlight engine, which originated as a DirectX 11 renderer. The engine’s memory allocation paths were written before HAGS existed. Forcing a GPU scheduler onto engine code that expects CPU-managed memory creates friction.
This is not unique to CONTROL Resonant. Other Northlight titles — Quantum Break, the original Control — had similar instability with HAGS on early hardware. The difference is that CONTROL Resonant pushes higher texture budgets and more simultaneous shader effects, making the conflict surface more often.
Should I turn Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling on or off for CONTROL Resonant?
Off. Most users will see fewer “Out of Video Memory” and DXGI_DEVICE_HUNG crashes with HAGS disabled.
- Why does HAGS cause crashes in CONTROL Resonant?HAGS adds an abstraction layer that creates timing mismatches between the game engine and GPU scheduler, leading to driver resets.
- What does the 'Out of Video Memory' error indicate when HAGS is enabled?It indicates a memory allocation failure due to HAGS miscommunicating availability, not necessarily a lack of VRAM.
- How can I disable HAGS on Windows?Go to Settings > System > Display > Graphics, click Change default graphics settings, and turn off Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling.
- What should I do if the game still crashes after disabling HAGS?Use DDU to clean install drivers and disable overlays from Steam, Discord, and Nvidia GeForce Experience.
