If you want to know if your computer can handle a certain game or run creative software smoothly or how to figure out what's wrong, one of the first things to check is your graphics card. This hardware is responsible for rendering everything you see on your screen. If things feel slow or laggy, your graphics card may be the reason.
In most cases, you can find what kind of graphics card you have pretty quickly, assuming you can power your computer on. Even if you can't, there are still a few options at hand.
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What graphics card do I have?
Knowing which graphics card you have can help you determine whether your computer can run certain games or handle creative work like video editing. It's also useful if you're considering upgrading or troubleshooting a problem.
Screenshot by Marshall Gunnell/CNET
To find your graphics card:
Open Device Manager (right-click Start > Device Manager). Look for a section called Display adapters and click the arrow next to it. You'll see your GPU listed there. If you want more details, right-click the GPU name and click Properties. This will give you information such as the manufacturer and model.
You can find which graphics card you have in other apps, too. In Task Manager, click the performance tab and then click GPU.
Screenshot by Marshall Gunnell/CNET
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