How to Check GPU Usage and Linux? (Step by Step Guide)

Video quality and smooth gaming performance are two desires for any gamer. They want to perform well in games.

For this, they need good graphics. Such people install video cards or GPUs to improve the performance of gaming.

It is also essential to check the usage of GPU while playing gaming.

For this, we have to step forward with some new knowledge about the performance of GPU and Linux that will help us to answer how to check GPU usage.

Let us start with what is GPU usage.  

What is GPU Usage?

GPU usage refers to memory usage during gaming or other activities like video editing. It is all about the performance of your games.

If it is at 100, it means you are running games at a high level. On a discrete GPU, RAM is responsible for usage. For integration, that is how much memory devoted to graphics is actually in use.

Also Checkout Best Laptops for Video Editing 

How to Check GPU Usage Windows 10?

In windows 10, you can check the performance of the GPU from the task manager. You can open task manager by following these steps:

1. Click on the Task Bar from the bottom of the screen and choose Task Manager 
2. For a shortcut, you can press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open the Task Manager
3. On the pop-up window, choose the performance tap from the list
4. If this option is missing, click on more details to find the right one
5. Select GPUO in the sidebar.
6. From there, you will see the details about the GPU. It will show the manufacturer’s name, model, and memory usage. 

If the system has multiple GPUs, it will show GPU1, GPU2, and more. Task manager has a hidden tool to analyze the performance of GPU and CPU memory usage.

Now, the task manager is more accurate than any third-party app. It is the best answer to how to check GPU usage.

Also, Check out How to Check the CPU Temperature?

How to Check GPU Usage While Gaming? 

Playing games on a PC is one of the fascinating tasks. You have proper knowledge about the usage of GPU while playing games.

Monitoring the use is the thing we all want to do. Here, we discuss tools for on-screen display of GPU usage.

Afterburner & RTSS

We are to test MSI’s Afterburner and Rivatuner Statistics Server (RTSS).

This amazing combination of programs is the easiest way to get an overall performance of video cards.

Step 1

1. Download MSI’s Afterburner. It is best for the on-screen display and GPU clock. 
2. Open RTSS for the on-screen display. 
3. Double-check both MSI’s Afterburner and Rivatuner Statistics server,

Step 2

In this step, you have to configure the OSD settings. 

1. Open the Afterburner and tap on the setting icon. 
2. Choose the third option from the list. 
3. From there, enable the monitoring graph on the on-screen display. 
4. If you want to remove the monitoring graph from OSD, untick all of them.

Step 3

It is all about the setting of the Rivatuner Statistics Server. It is an easy step; you don’t need to put much effort.

There are various settings, but the only thing you are going to do is make sure that the status of OSD is ON.

You can customize the OSD by changing the color, font size, and background. 

Step 4

Start games on your PC and try to note all the OSD (about the GPU usage).

How to Check GPU Usage Linux?

The video card is responsible for the quality of graphics on the screen. It calculates 3D images and graphics for Linux.

The top Linux GPU monitor tools for GPU monitoring, diagnostic purpose, and operating system FreeBSD are:

1. glmark2_ Stress testing GPU performance on Linux
2. for_gears_ Simple Linux Performance tool
3. gpustat_ A simple tool to gather Nuidia GPU stats on Linux and FreeBSD
4. Intel_ gpu_top_displaying_ a top summary of intel GPU usage on Linux
5. nvidia-smi_ NVIDIA System Management Interface

What Should GPU Usage Be?

It is normal for your GPU to be at 100% while playing games. It only means you are using your hardware to its full extent. Anyhow, there is no bad thing about the GPU at 100.

Why is 100 Percent GPU Usage a Good Thing?

It does not mean that your system is under pressure. It means that you are utilizing it to the maximum. 

How to Check If GPU Performance Will Appear?

Our primary concern is about how to check GPU usage. For this following steps are helpful: 

1. Press Window and R simultaneously to open the Run command
2. Type the following command here dxdiag.exe to open the Direct X Diagnostic tool
3. Click on the display tap 
4. On the right under the driver, review the driver model information

Also, Read the Difference Between Integrated & Discrete Graphics

How To Monitor GPU Usage Windows 7?

If your system has a dedicated graphic card installed and you want to track the usage by GPU.

Following are the ways to do:

1. Open control panel
2. Select the display and then screen resolution
3. Go to the Advanced setting 
4. Under this advance tap, you will find the total available graphic memory as well as the usage 

Final Thought 

No doubt, playing games to their maximum extent is a wonderful experience. For this, you should have GPUs installed on your devices.

Otherwise, there are no games or graphics. But, when it comes to GPU, we think about how to check GPU usage. It decides whether the system graphics are functioning well and lets you know if it needs to be updated.

Also, Read How to Build a Gaming Laptop From Scratch?