How to check your graphics card on a Windows PC: Check drivers & more

Do you want to check what graphics card you have on your PC? This guide helps you identify the GPU that lets you play games on your PC.

Do you want to play new games but need to know if your PC can run them? The best way to find this is to check what graphics card you have on your PC and confirm whether the game is compatible.

Remember that a graphics card or a GPU is one of the most critical components in your gaming PC. It’s responsible for actually rendering the game, and pushing out those all important frames for your PC gaming experience.

These graphics cards can be of various types. Some are embedded in your processor and irreplaceable, while others are extremely powerful, and also can be removed from your gaming PC..

It is perfectly fine if you want to know how to check the specs or make of your graphics card. But, it can get pretty confusing between brands and numerical systems. Luckily, we’re here to help. This method will work on any Windows PC to help you identify exactly what GPU you might have.

How to check graphics card

Nvidia

Device Manager

• Type “Device Manager” in your search bar and open the application.
• Click the “Display adapters” dropdown menu.
• In this menu, you will see your display adapter or graphics card.

It’s really simple to check what graphics card you have. Usually, it will either be an AMD, Nvidia, or Intel graphics card. If you’re running a laptop, you may see something like “Intel Integrated Graphics” – This just means that your system is not running a dedicated GPU, and is most likely not up to the task of running modern games at high resolutions. If you need to pick up a new GPU for yourself, be sure to check out the best graphics cards.

Task Manager

• Open up Task Manager using CTRL + Shift + ESC
• Navigate to the “Performance” tab
• Click “GPU 0”
• On the right-hand side of the screen, the make and model of your graphics card will be shown

Task Manager is the easiest way to check your graphics card in Windows. However, you will not get much other information aside from the model of your GPU.

How to check graphics card driver

Nvidia/Unsplash:@umby

If you’re having issues with your graphics card driver, you might need to update it. But, don’t worry, we’ll walk you through the process of checking how up-to-date your graphics card drivers are.

• Type “Device Manager” in your search bar and open it.
• Click the “Display adapters” dropdown menu
• Right-click on your GPU and select “Properties”
• Navigate to the “Driver” tab

In the “Driver” tab under your graphics card properties, you will be able to view your driver version, in addition to the date it was issued. If your graphics driver is months or years out of date, you’ll probably want to update it in order to get the best compatibility in games.

How to update your graphics card driver

If you have found via the above method that your graphics card driver needs to be updated, all you need to do is to open up Device Manager again, and select “Update Driver”. In most cases, Windows will automatically find it for you. If you have an Nvidia or AMD GPU, seek out their websites for the most up-to-date drivers.

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