HT201464: Use Activity Monitor on your Mac

Learn about Use Activity Monitor on your Mac
RB Connecticut

Q: Is there any measure of GPU activity through the activity monitor?

Is there any measure of GPU activity through the activity monitor? I see CPU and energy monitors. I suppose GPU use should be reflected in the energy values, but it would be buried among other energy consuming system components. I got here from article HT201464 which apparently doesn't map t a community.

Mac, Mac OS X (10.5.1)

Posted on Feb 14, 2016 8:53 PM

Close

Q: Is there any measure of GPU activity through the activity monitor?

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Drew Reece,Solvedanswer

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Feb 15, 2016 5:55 AM in response to RB Connecticut
    Level 5 (7,485 points)
    Notebooks
    Feb 15, 2016 5:55 AM in response to RB Connecticut

    Did you see the part about the GPU on that page…

    Use Activity Monitor on your Mac - Apple Support

    • Graphics Card: The type of graphics card currently used. Higher–performance cards use more energy. Macs that support automatic graphics switching save power by using integrated graphics. They switch to a higher-performance graphics chip only when an app needs it. "Integrated" means the Mac is currently using integrated graphics. "High Perf." means the Mac is currently using high-performance graphics. To identify apps that are using high-performance graphics, look for apps that show "Yes" in the Requires High Perf GPU column.

     

    This info is displayed at the bottom of the Energy tab. It's not much detail, but you may be able to see which apps need the high performance mode.

  • by RB Connecticut,

    RB Connecticut RB Connecticut Feb 15, 2016 6:08 AM in response to Drew Reece
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 15, 2016 6:08 AM in response to Drew Reece

    Thanks, I did see that in the article (probably after I posted my question). Like you say, it isn't process level detail. Also, on the two Macs I use (2007 MBP and 2011 Mini) that GPU info isn't even available, probably hardware related. I run an app that is capable of computing on the GPU as well as the CPU that seems to hang the Mini, I was trying to verify that I had successfully told it to use CPU only.

  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Feb 15, 2016 8:11 AM in response to RB Connecticut
    Level 5 (7,485 points)
    Notebooks
    Feb 15, 2016 8:11 AM in response to RB Connecticut

    It is showing the GPU mode, mode is a feature of GPU's that switch between built in & discreet GPU's.

    The Mini probably has built in graphics (part of the cpu chipset).

     

    I suspect there are other tools available however I do not use any so I can't recommend any. I wonder if Xcode has monitoring tools?