Graphics cards — be it for a great laptop or a desktop — have their own memory called VRAM (short for video RAM). This video memory is crucial to the performance of your graphics card, and not having enough VRAM can cause some performance issues. That’s why it’s important to know how much VRAM your graphics card has before figuring out the applications and games you can run on your PC. Thankfully, it’s incredibly easy to figure out how much VRAM your GPU has.
Check VRAM using DXDiag
One of the easiest ways to tell how much VRAM your graphics card has is by using the DirectX Diagnostic Tool, also called DxDiag. It’s a simple tool that’s used to test the DirectX API’s functionality and to help with video and audio troubleshooting. It can also provide information about your graphics card. Here’s how you can use DxDiag to find your GPU’s VRAM.
- Type dxdiag in the Windows Search box and select Open.
- Select Display from the tabs on the top.
- (Optional) Pick Display 1 if you see more than one display tab.
You’ll now see the details of your graphics card under the Device heading. You’ll see your GPU’s VRAM in megabytes next to the Display Memory (VRAM) header. In this example, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti has 12,010MB of Display Memory, which is essentially 12GB of VRAM.
Another way to tell how much VRAM your GPU has is by using third-party utility tools like HWiNFO or GPU-Z. Both options provide vital information about your video card and graphics processor so that you can know more than just the VRAM of your GPU. I use HWiNFO on my PC as it allows me to check the status of my CPU and other details of my PC. It even lets me monitor the temperature of various components, and I can’t recommend it enough.
Here’s how to use HWiNFO to check your GPU’s VRAM on your PC:
- Download HWiNFO and install it.
- Open HWiNFO and press start to see a summary of your PC components in a new window.
- If you don’t see a summary in a pop-up window, then expand the Video Adapter option on the left and select your GPU to see VRAM along with other GPU details.
Closing thoughts
Those are the two simple ways to find out how much VRAM the GPU that’s installed in your desktop or laptop has. Video memory is an important specification to consider while shopping for a graphics card. The amount of VRAM you need, as I previously mentioned, depends on the applications you use. Not only is it incredibly important for gaming, but it’s also used for creative and content creation workloads like video editing, graphics designing, and more. Top-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 or the RX 7900 XTX have an abundance of VRAM, but you may not need all that if you’re a casual user. Just make sure your GPU has enough VRAM to run all your favorite applications and games now, and you should be set for at least a few years before needing an upgrade.