Gamer's hands on a PC keyboard
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All computers have graphics hardware that handles everything from displaying your desktop and decoding videos to rendering demanding PC games. Most modern PCs take graphics processing units (GPUs) made by Intel, NVIDIA, or AMD, but remembering which model you have installed can be difficult.

While your reckoner'southward CPU and RAM are also of import, the GPU is usually the almost disquisitional component when it comes to playing PC games. If you don't have a powerful enough GPU, you can't play newer PC games—or you may have to play them with lower graphical settings.

Some computers take low-power "onboard" or "integrated" graphics, while others have powerful "defended" or "discrete" graphics cards (sometimes chosen video cards.) Here's how to encounter what graphics hardware is in your Windows PC.

On Windows 10, you can check your GPU data and usage details correct from the Task Manager. Right-click the taskbar from the bottom of your screen and select "Task Manager" or press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open the chore manager.

Option to open Task Manager from Windows 10's taskbar

On Windows eleven, you can likewise press Ctrl+Shift+Esc or right-click the Start button and choose "Task Managing director."

From there, select the "Performance" tab at the summit of the window—if you don't see the tabs, click "More Details." Choose "GPU 0" in the sidebar. The GPU'due south manufacturer and model name are displayed in the pinnacle-right corner of the window.

Y'all'll also see other data, such as the amount of defended retentivity on your GPU, in this window. Windows x'due south Chore Manager displays your GPU usage here, and you tin can also view GPU usage by application.

If your system has multiple GPUs, you'll as well come across "GPU 1" and then on here. Each represents a unlike physical GPU.

Name of computer's GPU shown in Windows 10's Task Manager

On older versions of Windows, such as Windows seven, you lot can discover this information in the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. To open information technology, printing Windows+R, type "dxdiag" into the Run dialog that appears, and press Enter.

Launching dxdiag from Windows 10's Run dialog

Click the "Display" tab and await at the "Proper name" field in the "Device" section. Other statistics, such as the amount of video retentiveness (VRAM) congenital into your GPU, are besides listed here.

DirectX Diagnostic Tool showing name of computer's graphics card

If you have multiple GPUs in your system—for instance, equally in a laptop with a low-power Intel GPU for apply on battery ability and a high-power NVIDIA GPU for use while plugged in and gaming—y'all tin can control which GPU a game uses from Windows ten's Settings app. These controls are also built into the NVIDIA Command Console.

RELATED: How to Monitor GPU Usage in the Windows Task Manager