How to Fix Call of Duty DirectX Error (0x887A0005) in Modern Warfare III and Warzone [2025 Guide]

If you’ve recently encountered frustrating crashes while playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, Warzone, or Black Ops 6. Players—especially on Windows 11 24H2 and using AMD or NVIDIA GPUs—have reported DirectX errors, most commonly:

DirectX encountered an unrecoverable error (Code: 0x887A0005)

In some cases, these crashes escalate to green screen of death (GSOD), requiring a full system reboot.

This post combines user experiences, technical insights, and real-world solutions to help you troubleshoot and fix the issue.

Issues Gamers Are Reporting

• Game crashes after 5–10 seconds of freezing
• DirectX crash popup or AMD/NVIDIA “unrecoverable error” message
• GSOD (Green Screen of Death) when forcing DirectX 11
• Issues started post-June 2024, after Windows 11 24H2 or GPU driver updates

“I’ve been playing since October 2023 with no issues. But starting June 2024, DirectX errors began to crash my game. Reverting to DX11 now causes a green screen. I’ve tried everything — no success!” — COD Player (from forum post)

DirectX Error: System & Software Conflicts

Before diving into the fixes, it’s important to understand why this error is occurring in the first place. The DirectX error in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Warzone isn’t always tied to a single cause. Instead, it’s often the result of a mix of system updates, driver changes, and third-party software conflicts that affect how the game communicates with DirectX components.

Here are the most common causes:

• Windows 11 24H2 bugs
• Recent GPU driver versions (NVIDIA 566.xx or AMD Adrenalin 24.1.1)
• Conflicts with third-party overlays (e.g., Discord, MSI Afterburner)
• VRAM overload from high texture settings
• Corrupt shader cache or DirectX install

Proven Fixes for the DirectX Crash

1. Use Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) + Rollback GPU Drivers

The most consistent fix:

• For NVIDIA Users: Roll back to Driver 561.09
• For AMD Users: Use Adrenalin 23.12.1

Steps:

1. Boot into Safe Mode
2. Use DDU to uninstall current GPU drivers
3. Reboot and install the stable driver version
4. Disable automatic driver updates temporarily

2. Downgrade Windows 11 24H2 to 23H2 or Windows 10

Several users found success reverting the OS:

“After downgrading from 24H2 to 23H2, all issues disappeared—no crashes in Warzone or driver recognition problems.”

If you recently updated to 24H2, roll back via Settings > Recovery > Go back (within 10 days) or perform a clean install.

3. Lower In-Game Settings & VRAM Target

In Graphics Settings:

• Texture Resolution: Normal
• VRAM Target: Set to 70% or lower
• Ray Tracing, Ambient Occlusion, SSR: OFF
• Upscaling: FidelityFX or Off

Some users even found:

“Dropping the core clock speed using MSI Afterburner helped eliminate crashes. For me, 2400 MHz was the sweet spot.”

4. Clean Shader Cache and Reset Shader Compilation

• Use Windows Disk Cleanup to remove DirectX Shader Cache
• In-game, go to Settings > Graphics > Display → “Restart Shader Preloading”

5. Disable Overlays and Background Apps

Turn off:

• Discord Overlay
• GeForce Experience Overlay
• AMD Adrenalin / MSI Afterburner
• Opera GX, Steam overlay, etc.

These often conflict with DirectX rendering in COD titles.

6. Run DISM & SFC System Repair

Open CMD as Admin:

sfc /scannow
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

This helps if recent GPU driver installs have left corrupted files.

Common Fixes That Failed for Most Players

Not every solution you find online will work for this error. In fact, many of the most “recommended” fixes turn out to be ineffective—or even worsen the issue. Here’s a list of commonly suggested fixes that did not help most users, based on community feedback.

Avoid wasting time on these:

• Reinstalling the game alone
• Switching to DirectX 11 (-d3d11) on Warzone (many experienced worse crashes)
• Updating to the latest drivers without a full DDU uninstall
• Disabling PBO/undervolts alone

Final Recommendations

Conclusion

The Call of Duty DirectX error is affecting a large number of users, and it’s not a hardware issue in most cases. The combination of driver instability, shader corruption, and Windows 11 24H2 bugs seems to be the root cause.

Until Activision releases a proper patch, these community-tested solutions are your best bet. If you’ve fixed the issue another way, share your experience and help others still stuck in crash loops.