ReShade and DXVK together: the install order that works

Why they clash

Both tools want to be the file the game loads for Direct3D. On Windows a game looks in its own folder first (F02), so a d3d9.dll or dxgi.dll placed there wins. DXVK ships exactly those names. ReShade’s installer, in its DirectX modes, also ships files with those names. A folder can hold only one file called d3d9.dll, so whichever you copy last replaces the other.

          
          Works:    game -> DXVK d3d9.dll -> Vulkan -> ReShade (Vulkan layer) -> driver
          
          
          
        
          
          Clashes:  game -> ReShade d3d9.dll  (DXVK's file was overwritten, so DXVK is not loaded)
          
          
          
        

In the working chain ReShade does not need a Direct3D DLL at all: it works as a Vulkan layer on the output of DXVK. In the clashing chain the game talks to ReShade’s file and DXVK never starts. Removing DXVK is silent: the game just runs on Windows’ own Direct3D, as we saw with other wrong installs (F05).

Install in this order

ReShade’s Vulkan support is registered as an implicit Vulkan layer for the whole system, according to its documentation, which means it can attach to other Vulkan programs as well. Check the behaviour of the version you install in its own notes: we did not verify it.

Already installed ReShade the DirectX way?

Recognise it: there is a d3d9.dll or dxgi.dll in the game folder that is not DXVK’s, and the DXVK HUD does not show. Do not trust the file properties: DXVK’s DLLs carry generic Windows version text (F45). Use the DLL Verifier on the download page: it compares the file’s SHA-256 with every official DXVK release and says “not DXVK” when it is not.

To fix it:

1. Use the ReShade installer’s uninstall option for the game, or delete the ReShade files you added. Keep a copy of anything you want to keep, including your presets.
2. Copy DXVK’s DLL back from the archive (the right bitness, F05) and confirm the HUD.
3. Run the ReShade installer again and this time choose Vulkan.

Do not mix DXVK’s dxgi.dll with a different d3d11.dll: a lab test with DXVK’s dxgi.dll and Windows’ own d3d11.dll crashed the game in under a second (F41). The minimum DXVK pair for Direct3D 11 is d3d11.dll plus dxgi.dll (F40), and a Direct3D 9 game needs only d3d9.dll (F38).

The other way: ReShade as a proxy DLL

Some guides chain the two by renaming files so that ReShade loads DXVK’s DLL, or by using an ASI loader. We do not recommend it and have not verified any version of it. It is fragile: the game starts ReShade’s file, which then has to load the right DXVK file, and a mistake in the names gives the silent failure above. If you rely on dxvk.conf, check the HUD still obeys it.

FPS drop with ReShade

We have not measured it. One user reported a drop of nearly 60% in The Sims 3 with ReShade and DXVK (GitHub issue 3995). A post-processing effect adds GPU work to every frame on any API, so the cost belongs mostly to the effects you pick. What usually helps, according to the reports we read: fewer or lighter effects, ReShade’s performance mode, and turning off depth-buffer access you do not use. To measure it yourself, use the five-step method on the performance page: scene without ReShade, then with.

Dark or washed-out colours (HDR)

Issue 4776 reports dark colours with ReShade’s HDR add-ons under DXVK 2.6. DXVK has an option that controls HDR, dxgi.enableHDR, and a variable, DXVK_HDR (environment variables). We could not reproduce the problem, so we give no steps. Try turning HDR off in Windows and the game first.

ReShade, ENB and DXVK

ENB also works through files with Direct3D names, such as d3d9.dll or d3d11.dll, so it can collide with both DXVK and ReShade’s DirectX modes. We did not test any chain. Read the conflicts page and the page for your game: Skyrim, Fallout: New Vegas, The Sims 3.

Crashes

Issue 5889 reports a crash with ReShade and DXVK 3.x. We cannot say whether it is fixed. If you crash: test DXVK alone, then ReShade alone, then both; try DXVK 2.7.1 (see DXVK 3.x); and update ReShade from reshade.me.