How to tell what graphics card you have

A graphics processing unit (GPU), also known as a video card or graphics card, processes and renders images and videos to display on a computer monitor. More powerful graphics cards can support multiple monitors, higher frame rates and resolutions with more dedicated video memory.  

The GPU’s main purpose is to generate the visual component for users when using a PC or laptop. The main reason a user would want higher-end graphics card would be if they use a PC mainly for gaming, as a quality graphics card will help improve the overall gaming performance and experience.   

There is a huge variety of graphics cards available, and each varies on compatibility with various motherboards and other components. It’s beneficial to look at what motherboard video card you have, as this can help determine whether you would need to upgrade or what upgrades are supported. 

You will have a better idea of what graphics card you already have if you built your own PC, but there are some ways to identify your GPU if you’re unsure, forgot or have bought a pre-built computer.  

Device Manager is the most common and convenient way to check which graphics card you have. 

1. Open Device Manager by searching for it in the Start menu or taskbar search bar. 
2. Click on the drop-down arrow next to Display Adapters in the side panel to display the make and model of your GPU. 
   

Task Manager is another quick and easy way to check what GPU you have installed in your PC. 

1. Open Task Manager by holding Ctrl + Alt + Delete.  
2. Click on the Performance tab and look under the GPU section to see your GPU make, model and real-time performance information. 
   

Third-party apps can be downloaded to help you find out GPU information such as GPU-Z, Speccy, HWiNFO and more. These programs will give you important performance data in addition to make and model details.  

There are many functions that graphics cards carry out. To understand whether you should upgrade your graphics card, it’s important to understand what the GPU does and how it affects your experience. The key things to understand are FPS, resolution and clock speed.  

Frames per second (FPS) effectively measures how smoothly a game or app is running. The higher the FPS is, the smoother the game or app will appear on-screen. Frames are rendered by the GPU, so the more powerful the graphics card then the more frames it will be able to render in a shorter span of time. Higher FPS makes everything appear smoother and crisper.   

Resolution is the sharpness of videos and images represented by the number of pixels displayed on screen. The more pixels being displayed on-screen means a more powerful GPU will be needed to render those additional frames quickly.  

Clock speed refers to how quickly the GPU can render graphics, which are measured in MHz and GHz. It can be useful to see the maximum frequency the graphics card can perform regarding clock speed. A higher number will denote a faster clock speed and result in more powerful performance and a smoother user experience.  

All three of these factors are related to one another since there is a limit to how much a graphics card can do. For example, you can get more frames per second from your graphics card by lowering the resolution or level of detail in a game. 

It’s important to consider how vital a video card is for the tasks you carry out on your device. If you are a gamer or video editor, you’ll want to have as powerful a graphics card as possible within your price range. If your device is not running properly or as quickly as you’d like, the issue may not be an outdated graphics card but other hardware that could be holding back the performance. Understanding what upgrades your computer could benefit from before swapping your graphics card straight away could save you time and money.  

If gaming or editing videos and photos is becoming slower and your computer is struggling to keep up with those demanding tasks, it might be time to look at upgrading the graphics card. You will understand what benefits an upgraded GPU can bring once you have a better understanding of the GPU currently in your PC.   

Your installed RAM and desired price point are the most important factors to consider when upgrading your graphics card. Understand and research what will impact the performance of your device based on what you use it for, whether it be gaming, streaming, editing or as a professional workstation.