diff --git a/crates/ml-dqn/src/gpu_replay_buffer.rs b/crates/ml-dqn/src/gpu_replay_buffer.rs
index 06a1ed34e..5a71e04df 100644
--- a/crates/ml-dqn/src/gpu_replay_buffer.rs
+++ b/crates/ml-dqn/src/gpu_replay_buffer.rs
@@ -644,7 +644,7 @@ impl GpuReplayBuffer {
         if bs == 0 { return Ok(()); }
         let (al, ep, bsi) = (self.config.alpha, self.config.epsilon, bs as i32);
         let mut bm = a32f(&self.stream, 1, "bm")?;
-        self.stream.memcpy_htod(&[0.0_f32], &mut bm).map_err(|e| MLError::ModelError(format!("{e}")))?;
+        self.stream.memset_zeros(&mut bm).map_err(|e| MLError::ModelError(format!("{e}")))?;
         // SAFETY: td_errors, indices, priorities, bm are valid device allocations. bs <= buffer size.
         unsafe {
             self.stream.launch_builder(&self.kernels.priority_update_f32)
@@ -653,7 +653,6 @@ impl GpuReplayBuffer {
         }
         self.pending_max_priority = Some(match self.pending_max_priority.take() {
             Some(prev) => {
-                // GPU-only max of two scalars (zero CPU readback)
                 let mut r = a32f(&self.stream, 1, "mm")?;
                 // SAFETY: r, prev, bm are valid 1-element device allocations on same context.
                 unsafe {
@@ -774,8 +773,11 @@ impl GpuReplayBuffer {
             }
         });
 
-        // Multi-block scan uses 256 threads/block.
-        let block_dim = 256_u32;
+        // Multi-block scan: use 1024 threads/block to maximize elements per block.
+        // This ensures num_blocks stays below max_threads_per_block (1024) for phase-2
+        // block_sums scan. At buffer_size=500K: num_blocks = 500000/1024 = 489 < 1024.
+        // With 256 threads: num_blocks = 1953 > 1024 → falls back to single-block O(n).
+        let block_dim = 1024_u32.min(mt);
         let num_blocks = (n as u32).div_ceil(block_dim);
 
         if num_blocks <= 1 {