When it comes to gaming, your GPU can make a huge difference in the performance of your PC.

So, how can you make sure your GPU is working properly and providing you with the best possible gaming experience? Here’s what you need to know.

How To Check If Your GPU Is Working?

To check if your GPU is working, make sure your display is plugged into your graphics card and not your motherboard. On the back of your PC case, the HDMI/DP/VGA ports for your graphics card will be where the PCI slots are, separate from your motherboard’s display adapters.

If your display is plugged into your PC’s graphics card, and they are displaying an image, then your GPU is working.

To make sure your PC is using the full power of your GPU, you’ll want to ensure you have the latest software and drivers installed for your GPU.

This process is straightforward and can be summarized in a few steps:

1. From your start menu, open your control panel.
2. Next, open the device manager under the “hardware and sound” tab
3. Scroll to display adapters and double-click your graphics card from the drop-down menu.
4. If your GPU is fine, it should say “This device is working properly” under device status.
5. Right click the name of your display adapter then select “update driver” to update its drivers.

Your computer might show that your GPU is working and has up-to-date drivers installed, but you’re either not getting the performance you should be, or your GPU might not be working at all. 

When this happens, it’s time to check your GPU hardware.

How To Check if Your GPU Hardware Is Working?

To check if your GPU hardware is working, inspect it closely for faults. The GPU is a small chip, but it’s housed in a comparatively large frame, and any part of this frame could be the problem. 

Firstly, check your graphics card for any damage. If you’ve moved your PC recently or it took a particularly nasty fall, your GPU might have sustained damage.

Once you’re done with this, it’s time to check the fans on your graphics card. The fans are a major part of the graphics card.

Your GPU, which sits inside your graphics card, is tasked with processing dozens of tasks simultaneously, which can be extremely taxing, requiring quite a lot of power. 

The more power running through your chip, the hotter it gets. Without an efficient cooling system, the GPU will overheat, throttle, and eventually crash. The fans are there to ensure this doesn’t happen.

As a result, any damage to your fans will harm your GPU’s performance.

Closely inspect the fans on your graphics card. If any of the fans are cracked, stuck, bent, or broken, it may cause the performance of your GPU to suffer.

Also, you’ll want to make sure there isn’t a build up of dust on your graphics card. If your graphics card is dusty, then you’ll want to clean it using a can of pressurized air.

How To Check if GPU Is Working On Linux?

To check your GPU on Linux, use the terminal commands. To do this, type Nvidia-smi into the Linux terminal. This gives you access to management options for your GPU and allows you to check which GPU is working or not.

The steps mentioned above will help you check which GPU is functional at any time.

How To Check if an AMD Graphics Card Is Working?

To check that your AMD card is working properly, use Windows Device Manager. Using Device Manager, check the status of your display adapters. If your graphics card is malfunctioning, it will have a tiny alert symbol next to it inside of the Device Manager.

If your graphics card is malfunctioning and has errors in Device Manager, attempt to update its drivers. You can do this by right clicking the name of the display adapter then selecting “Update Driver”.

If the graphics card still has errors, then attempt to re-install the drivers by right clicking the display adapter and choosing uninstall device.

Then, restart your computer so your PC will detect the graphics card and attempt to reinstall its drivers.

Best Way To Test GPU Performance?

To test the performance of your GPU, run benchmark tests on your PC. Running a benchmark test requires the use of specialized software to check how your GPU performs when it’s under strain. Benchmarks give you metrics which allow you to compare your GPU performance in objective terms.

Benchmarking your GPU is useful because it gives you an idea of how your GPU is performing in your PC, given your motherboard, RAM, CPU, and other components.

You can compare your benchmark results to the results of other users, giving you an objective way to compare your computer’s performance with theirs.

This will also help you determine whether your GPU is performing at its maximum potential, or if its performance is being hindered by other components in your PC.

Benchmarking software like the popular 3DMark benchmarking suite allows you to test your GPU’s performance directly. 

Additionally, check for FPS rates, speed, stability, and temperatures. Keep an eye on your GPU’s vitals when running this benchmark test. You can see these vitals in the top right corner of the device adapter option.

Along with pure GPU speed, a benchmark test will also give you details like temperature, frame rate, and GPU usage. These details allow you to isolate specific problems with your setup. 

For example, an unnaturally high GPU temperature is usually a good indicator that there could be a problem with the thermal paste or fan.

How To Improve GPU Performance?

To improve GPU performance, reduce the strain on it. Like general troubleshooting, there are multiple ways to improve GPU performance, but most of the methods involve reducing the strain on your GPU.

There are four main ways to improve your GPU’s performance. They are:

1. Reduce the temperature.
2. Alter your power settings.
3. Update and optimize your drivers.
4. Safely overclock your GPU.

First, you can reduce the temperature by reducing the number of apps you run simultaneously.

Running too many apps concurrently adds more strain to the GPU, increasing the amount of processing power required. This results in higher temperatures.

You can also try altering your power settings. If that doesn’t work, you can have a look at your drivers. Fine-tune these drivers if possible to increase the PC’s general performance.