How to Check Graphics Card on PC (Beginner Guide)

If you are using a Windows computer and want to know what graphics card (GPU) your PC has, there are several quick ways to find it.

Knowing your GPU or graphics card helps you understand what your computer can handle. For example, you can check:

• whether your PC can run certain games
• if it’s powerful enough for video editing or graphic design
• whether you should upgrade your graphics card
• if your GPU drivers are working correctly

The good news is that you don’t need to install any third-party software. Windows already includes built-in tools that let you check your graphics card, GPU, or video card in just a few minutes.

In this guide, you’ll learn four simple ways to check the graphics card on your PC using built-in Windows tools.

These methods include:

• checking your GPU with Task Manager
• checking your graphics card with DirectX Diagnostic Tool
• viewing your video card in Device Manager
• checking your GPU using Command Prompt

For demonstration purposes, the example used in this guide is: Intel(R) Arc(TM) A380 Graphics

In this guide, we only use built-in Windows tools to check your GPU. If you need more detailed information about your graphics card, you can also use third-party tools such as GPU-Z.

Example:

GPU 0
Intel(R) Arc(TM) A380 Graphics

You will also see additional details, including:

• GPU Usage
• Dedicated GPU Memory
• Shared GPU Memory
• Driver Version

Task Manager is a built-in Windows system monitoring tool.

Besides tracking CPU and memory usage, it also lets you monitor your GPU activity in real time.

Why this method is useful

• very quick and easy to use
• no extra tools required
• lets you monitor GPU usage during gaming or rendering

If you want to quickly check the graphics card on your PC, this is usually the best option.

Here you will see detailed information about your graphics card.

Example:

Name: Intel(R) Arc(TM) A380 Graphics
Manufacturer: Intel
Display Memory: 6144 MB
Driver Version: 31.xxxx

DirectX Diagnostic Tool is a Microsoft tool used to check graphics hardware and DirectX information.

Compared to Task Manager, this tool provides more technical details about your GPU.

You can view:

• the exact GPU model
• the amount of VRAM (video memory)
• driver version
• DirectX information

This method is especially useful when you need more detailed information about your graphics card.

Windows will display the graphics card currently recognized by the system.

Example:

Intel(R) Arc(TM) A380 Graphics

If your system has multiple GPUs, all graphics cards or video cards will appear here.

Device Manager is the Windows tool used to manage hardware devices.

You can use it to:

• view hardware installed on your system
• update GPU drivers
• check for device or driver issues

If there is a problem with your graphics card, Device Manager may display a warning icon or device error.

Windows will display the name of your graphics card.

Example:

Name
Intel(R) Arc(TM) A380 Graphics

This method uses the Windows command line to retrieve hardware information from the system.

Advantages

• very fast
• simple command
• useful for users comfortable with command-line tools

However, this method only shows the GPU name, not detailed specifications.

GPU Name

Example: Intel(R) Arc(TM) A380 Graphics

The GPU name allows you to search for benchmarks or performance comparisons online.

VRAM (Video Memory)

This is the dedicated memory used by the graphics card.

Examples:

4 GB
6 GB
8 GB

More VRAM generally helps with tasks such as:

• 3D gaming
• video rendering
• graphic design

Driver Version

Drivers allow Windows to communicate with your graphics card.

Updated drivers can improve:

• performance
• stability
• software compatibility

Checking the graphics card on your PC is a simple but useful task for any computer user.

In this guide, you learned four common ways to check your GPU on Windows:

• checking your GPU with Task Manager
• using DirectX Diagnostic Tool
• viewing your graphics card in Device Manager
• checking your GPU with Command Prompt

With just a few quick steps, you can identify the exact graphics card installed in your system, such as: Intel(R) Arc(TM) A380 Graphics

This information can help you better understand your computer’s performance and make smarter decisions when upgrading hardware or installing graphics-intensive software.