How To Force A Game To Use Graphics Card? Complete Guide

You’re in the middle of an intense game of Apex legends when all of a sudden, your computer crashes and you lose all your progress. 

This is probably because your computer is trying to use the integrated graphics card instead of the dedicated graphics card that you bought just for gaming. 

Now If you’re a hardcore PC gamer, there’s a good chance that you like to get the most out of your hardware. And if you have a newer graphics card, chances are you want to use it to its fullest potential. 

However, there is a massive misconception going around as most people believe that when they purchase a game, it will automatically use their graphics card. However, this is not always the case. 

Why? Well, In some instances, you may need to take a few extra steps to ensure that your game is using your graphics card instead of your computer’s integrated graphics. 

So how do you force a game to use your graphics card instead of your integrated graphics? It’s not as difficult as you might think.

This easy guide will show you how to force a game to use the graphics card on your computer, so you can avoid any more frustrating crashes, stutters, or lag spikes!

Things To Do Beforehand

This is the first and most important step. If your graphics card is not plugged in correctly, then your computer will not be able to use it.

Check to see if your graphics card is properly seated in its slot and that all of the cables are plugged in securely. Once you’ve done that, try restarting your computer and launching the game again.

If that doesn’t work, then you may need to update your drivers.

Updating Your Drivers

Sometimes, games will require you to have the latest drivers for your graphics card to run properly.  Outdated drivers can cause all sorts of problems, including crashes, stuttering, and poor performance.

To update your drivers, you can either use your computer’s built-in update feature or you can go to the website of your graphics card’s manufacturer and download the latest drivers from there.

Once you’ve updated your drivers, try launching the game again and see if that fixes the problem. If that doesn’t help, here are a couple of methods that would deem fruitful for your endeavors.

Steps For How To Force A Game To Use Graphics Card

Since there are two types of Discrete graphics card manufacturers, the method to forcibly use them for a game or application varies too, which is why I will demonstrate both of them here.

For Nvidia Owners

It doesn’t matter which version of Windows operating is installed on your computer, the methods demonstrated here will work for everyone, so follow them carefully!

1. Right-click on your desktop and select “Nvidia Control Panel”
2. Go to “Manage 3D settings”
3. Click on the Program Settings tab and find the game or application you want to set to use your dedicated graphics card in the drop-down menu.
4. If it’s not listed, click “Add” and browse for the executable file (.exe) for the game or application. 
5. Once you’ve found it, click “Add Selected Program” 
6. Now that it’s added, scroll down a bit until you see two options that say “Preferred graphics processor” and “SHADER cache.” Set both of these to “High-performance NVIDIA processor.”
7. Setting them to “High Performance” is important because otherwise, this method will go in vain.
8. Save your changes and exit the Nvidia Control Panel. 
9. That’s it! Your game or application should now be forced to use your dedicated graphics card, which will hopefully lead to a better gaming experience.

For AMD Owners

If you are an AMD owner, the process is a bit different but not difficult. 

1. Right-click on your desktop and select “AMD Radeon Settings”
2. Go to “Preferences”
3. Click on the “Additional Settings” tab
4. From here, go to the “Power” section and set the “Switchable Graphics Global Settings” to “High Performance.” 
5. Save your changes and exit the AMD Radeon Settings. 
6. That’s it! Now that the game is forced to use your dedicated graphics card, you should experience a better gaming experience without crashes, stutters, and lag spikes.

There you have it! Two easy methods to force your game or application to use your dedicated graphics card instead of your integrated one. 

Forcing A Game To Use Graphics Card Through BIOS Mode

However, if you find this method a little confusing, you can also force your dedicated graphics card over a discrete one through BIOS mode, here is how,

• Open the run dialogue box by hitting the windows key + r. then, type ‘MSConfig’ and hit enter. This will open up the system configuration tool. 
• From here, select the ‘boot’ tab at the top of the window, and then check the box next to ‘safe boot’. This will ensure that your computer only uses basic drivers when it starts up, which may help if your graphics card isn’t being recognized. 
• After this, restart your computer and see if the issue persists. If it does, try opening up your BIOS settings (this is usually done by hitting F2 or DEL when your computer first turns on) and navigate to the ‘boot’ tab. 
• From here, you should see an option for a ‘primary graphics adapter’. If this is set to ‘integrated’, change it to ‘discrete’ and save your changes. This will force your computer to use your dedicated graphics card. 
• Voila, Enjoy!

That’s all Folks!

So now that you know how to force your game to use your graphics card, I hope you have a better gaming experience on your PC! Keep in mind that always update your drivers and your operating system to the latest version to minimize the possibilities of errors or bugs ruining your gaming experience. 

Also, if you have any further questions or need help troubleshooting, please feel free to leave a comment down below! Thanks for reading!