Fix: ‘You don’t have enough system and video memory’ Last of Us

Despite having sufficient RAM and video memory, you might encounter an error message stating, ‘You Don’t Have Enough System and Video Memory To Start The Game,’ when trying to open Last of Us. This often occurs when the virtual memory is not set according to the size of the physical RAM installed on your PC.

However, keep in mind that The Last Of Us requires a minimum of 16GB RAM and 4GB of dedicated video memory. If you do not have sufficient RAM and video memory, you will need to upgrade your RAM or video card in order to play the game. However, if you cannot afford that, you can still try increasing the virtual memory by following the first method in this article.

Before trying the following methods, make sure to restart your computer properly, as there is a high possibility that you are facing this error due to a temporary bug or glitch that can be fixed by restarting the computer.

1. Increase Virtual Memory

Virtual memory is used to run larger applications or multiple applications simultaneously. When the system runs out of memory, it utilizes virtual memory to keep the system’s tasks functioning. This technique allows addressing more memory than the amount of physical RAM installed on your PC.

This additional memory, called virtual memory, can be allocated from storage devices such as HDDs or SSDs, and it functions like a system’s memory.

If you have 16GB of RAM and are facing this error, try increasing your virtual memory.

To increase the virtual memory, follow the steps:

1. Click the Start Menu and type View advanced system settings.
   
2. Hit Enter to open the advanced system settings.
3. Click Settings under Performance.
   
4. Then, go to Advanced.
5. Click Change under Virtual Memory.
6. Here untick Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.
7. Then, select ‘Custom size’ and input the values according to your physical RAM. The initial size should be equal to the physical RAM, and the maximum size should be 1 or 2 times the size of the physical RAM installed on your PC. For instance, if you have 16GB of RAM, you can set the initial size to 16GB, and the maximum size to 16 * 2, which is 32GB.
8. Once done, click OK and restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
   
9. Now try launching The Last Of US and see if the error persists.

2. Run the game into the dedicated Graphics Card

This method is only applicable to those users who have a system with dedicated and integrated graphics cards. Since The Last of Us cannot be launched with a low-memory video card, it is possible that your integrated GPU is being utilized by the game instead of your main dedicated GPU, resulting in this error message.

In this case, you can configure the graphics preference settings to run The Last of Us with a dedicated GPU. To do so, please follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the settings by pressing Win + I keys simultaneously and go to Display.
2.  Scroll down to the bottom, and click Graphics.
   
3. Click Browse, and select The Last Of Us launcher.
4. Then, click Add. Once it is added, select The Last Of Us, and click Options.
   
5. Select High Performance and click Save.
   
6. Once done, now try launching the game to see if you are encountering the error or not.

3. Reinstall GPU drivers with DDU

If you meet the minimum game requirements but the error still persists after trying all the methods, you should reinstall the GPU drivers using Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU). DDU is an application used to uninstall system drivers.

We recommend DDU because it removes the drivers along with the registry files, ensuring that no files are left behind. To reinstall the GPU drivers, follow these steps:

1. Download Display Driver Uninstaller through the link.
2. Once it is downloaded, extract the folder via WinRar or 7Zip.
   
3. Then, navigate to the extracted folder and run the 7Zip file.
4. Click Extract and wait for the extraction to be finished.
   
5. Open the extracted folder, and run the Display Driver Uninstaller.
6. Select the device and the device type from the right side.
7. Then, click Clean and restart.
8. Once your PC is restarted, head to the GPU manufacturer’s site.
9. Search for the driver, and download the latest driver.
   
10. Once the installer is downloaded, run it and follow the on-screen instructions to install the GPU driver.
11. Restart your computer and try launching The Last Of Us to see if the error is fixed.