How To Show Gpu Performance In Task Manager

To show GPU performance in Task Manager, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc, select Performance, then choose a GPU in the left-hand list. You can view utilisation, graphics memory usage and individual GPU engines. If the GPU entry is missing, check your graphics driver’s compatibility.

Open the GPU performance view

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager. You can also right-click Start and select Task Manager.
2. If Task Manager opens in a compact view with a More details button, select it.
3. Select Performance. Depending on the Windows interface, this appears as a tab or a navigation item on the left.
4. Select GPU 0, GPU 1 or another GPU entry. Scroll down the device list if necessary.
5. Check the GPU name above the graphs to confirm which graphics processor you are viewing.

The Performance view shows activity across applications. You do not need to enable a GPU option under an Options or Graphs menu. Microsoft’s guide to checking your GPU also describes using this view to identify your graphics hardware.

A computer can have both integrated graphics and a dedicated graphics card. Check each entry rather than assuming GPU 0 is the more powerful device. An idle graph on one GPU does not mean the other is idle.

Read the GPU graphs and memory figures

GPU utilisation and engine activity

The graphs show activity over time. Different GPU engines handle different work, such as 3D rendering, video decoding, video encoding and copying data. The available engines depend on the hardware and driver.

Click an engine name above a graph to choose another available engine. For example, when checking video playback, inspect Video Decode as well as 3D. A quiet 3D graph alone does not establish that the GPU is unused.

High utilisation during a demanding game or render can be expected. Low utilisation can also be normal when an application is waiting, has little graphics work to do, or uses a frame-rate limit. Compare the reading with what the application is doing before treating it as a fault.

Dedicated and shared GPU memory

Dedicated GPU memory is reserved for graphics use; on a dedicated card, it usually represents the card’s own video memory. Shared GPU memory is system RAM that the GPU can use. The shared memory limit is not the amount currently in use.

Watch memory usage while reproducing a slowdown. If reducing texture quality or closing another graphics-heavy application improves responsiveness, memory demand deserves further investigation. A memory reading by itself does not prove that a hardware upgrade is necessary.

Temperature and other sensor readings

Task Manager can show GPU temperature on supported dedicated graphics cards. Availability depends on the graphics hardware and driver, so a missing temperature value does not necessarily mean GPU monitoring is broken. Microsoft’s GPU temperature feature notes describe the hardware and driver requirements and the Celsius display.

Do not expect the standard GPU performance view to provide a complete sensor dashboard, including GPU clock speeds, fan speeds and board power in watts. For those readings, use a monitoring utility supplied by your graphics card or computer manufacturer, checking which sensors your model supports.

Find which applications are using the GPU

Use Processes to connect GPU activity with an application, rather than relying only on the combined Performance graphs.

1. Select Processes in Task Manager.
2. Right-click a column heading, such as Name or CPU.
3. Enable GPU and GPU engine if they are not already visible.
4. Click the GPU heading to sort by usage, with the highest values first.
5. Read GPU engine to identify the GPU and engine associated with the activity.

If an application appears as a group with a number beside its name, expand it to inspect the individual processes. The guide to the number in parentheses in Task Manager explains that grouping.

Save your work before closing an application. If it is marked Suspended, investigate its state before forcing it to stop; see how to unsuspend a program in Task Manager for that separate issue.

Check a missing GPU entry

Integrated graphics can appear in Task Manager too. The absence of a dedicated graphics card is not, by itself, the reason a GPU entry is missing.

1. Press Windows + R, enter dxdiag and press Enter.
2. Open the relevant Display tab and find Driver Model in the Drivers section.
3. Check for WDDM 2.0 or later. Microsoft’s explanation of GPU monitoring in Task Manager identifies this as a requirement.
4. If needed, install a compatible graphics driver from your computer or GPU manufacturer, restart, then check Task Manager again.

An older GPU may not have a compatible driver. Installing a newer driver cannot guarantee support that the hardware lacks.

Use the readings to investigate a slowdown

Reproduce the problem with the same game scene, video or editing task, then compare GPU activity with CPU, memory and disk usage. Close unused applications and change one setting at a time so you can judge whether it helps. More Windows troubleshooting walkthroughs are available in the Task Manager guides.

Open Performance now, select the GPU by name and run the application you want to check. Note the busiest engine and memory usage when the slowdown occurs.