GPU-Z

GPU-Z is a free, portable GPU information and monitoring utility from TechPowerUp. It displays the full specifications of your graphics card and reads sensor data in real time. No installation is required. Just download and run the executable.

What it does

The Graphics Card tab lists everything about your GPU: model name, GPU revision, BIOS version, base and boost clocks, memory type and size, bus width, driver version, and supported technologies (DirectX, OpenCL, Vulkan). A validation button in the corner checks whether the card is genuine or a relabeled fake, which is useful when buying used hardware.

The Sensors tab provides live readings for GPU temperature, core clock, memory clock, GPU load, VRAM usage, fan speed in RPM and percentage, and board power draw (on cards that support it). Click the small arrow next to any value to toggle between current, minimum, maximum, and average readings. All sensor data updates every second by default.

GPU-Z runs as a single portable executable under 10 MB. It does not write to the registry or install drivers. You can carry it on a USB stick and run it on any Windows machine to quickly check what GPU is installed and whether it is running at the expected clocks and temperatures.

Who it is for

I keep GPU-Z on a USB stick and run it whenever I need to verify GPU specs, especially on machines I did not build myself. It takes two seconds to check if a used card is genuine, what clocks it runs at, and whether temperatures are normal. It is the first tool I open when diagnosing GPU issues, before anything heavier like MSI Afterburner or HWiNFO. If you just need to know what is inside your PC and whether the GPU is behaving, GPU-Z does exactly that with zero setup.