All computers have graphics hardware that does everything from displaying your desktop to decoding videos to rendering demanding PC games. Most modern PCs have graphics processing units (GPUs) from Intel, NVIDIA, or AMD, but it can be difficult to remember which model you have installed.
While your computer’s CPU and memory are also important, the GPU is usually the most critical component when it comes to playing PC games. If you don’t have a powerful enough GPU, you won’t be able to play newer PC games – or you may have to play them with lower graphics settings.
Some computers have low-power “integrated” or “integrated” graphics cards, while others have high-performance “dedicated” or “discrete” graphics cards (sometimes referred to as video cards). This is how you can see what graphics hardware is present in your Windows PC.
On Windows 10, you can check your GPU information and usage details right in Task Manager. Right-click the taskbar at the bottom of the screen and select “Task Manager” or press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.
On Windows 11, you can also press Ctrl+Shift+Esc or right-click the Start button and select Task Manager.
From there, select the “Performance” tab at the top of the window. If you don’t see the tabs, click More Details. Select “GPU 0” in the sidebar. The GPU manufacturer and model name are displayed in the upper-right corner of the window.
In this window you can also see other information, e.g. B. the amount of dedicated memory on your GPU. Windows 10’s task manager shows your GPU usage here, and you can also view GPU usage by application.
If your system has multiple GPUs, you’ll also see “GPU 1” here, etc. Each one represents a different physical GPU.
For older versions of Windows, such as Windows 7, you can find this information in the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. To open it, press Windows+R, type “dxdiag” in the Run dialog box that appears and press Enter.
Click the Display tab and look at the Name field in the Device section. Other statistics such as B. the amount of video memory (VRAM) built into your GPU are also listed here.
If you have multiple GPUs in your system—for example, a laptop with a low-power Intel GPU for use on battery power and a high-performance NVIDIA GPU for use during plugged-in and gaming—you can control which GPU a game uses is uses from the Windows 10 Settings app. These controls are also built into the NVIDIA Control Panel.
TIED TOGETHER: How to monitor GPU usage in Windows Task Manager
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