How to Choose Which GPU a Game Uses on Windows 11 (2026)

To choose which GPU a game uses on Windows 11, open Settings > System > Display > Graphics, select the game under Custom options for apps, choose Options, set Graphics preference to Let Windows decide (Power saving), Power saving or High performance, select Save, and restart the game. The choice only matters on a PC with more than one GPU, typically a laptop with integrated graphics plus a separate graphics card, and the Windows setting takes priority over the NVIDIA Control Panel. Everything here was checked against Microsoft and NVIDIA documentation on September 30, 2026, and applies to Windows 11 only. If you also plan to record on a laptop, see how to tame heat and lag in laptop game recording. After changing the setting, confirm the result in Task Manager instead of assuming it worked.

Bottom line and when it applies

Three points decide how this goes. First, the Windows 11 Graphics page is the main place to set a GPU per game, and a per-app choice overrides the system-wide setting. Second, the Preferred graphics processor option in the NVIDIA Control Panel is used only when Windows has no GPU preference for that app; NVIDIA's help explains that since Windows 10 20H1 the operating system assigns the GPU and overrides the panel. Third, Microsoft says these settings apply only to eligible games, and NVIDIA notes that the driver can override your selection if a program requires a specific GPU. A setting is therefore a request, not a guarantee, which is why the last step is to verify. If your PC has a single graphics card, there is nothing to choose. And if frame rate drops only once you start recording, the cause may be the encoder rather than the GPU choice, which FPS drops when recording covers. This guide does not claim that High performance raises FPS; it only documents that the option selects the GPU a game runs on.

Steps to choose the GPU a game uses

1. 1Check that your PC has two GPUs — Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager and look at how many GPUs appear on the Performance tab. According to Microsoft, laptops and tablets can have a discrete GPU in addition to the integrated one; the integrated GPU handles lighter graphics tasks and the discrete GPU handles heavier ones, and switching between them balances performance and power efficiency. With only one GPU, the settings in this guide are unnecessary. How to look up your full PC specs is outside the scope of this guide.
2. 2Open the Graphics settings — Select the Start button, then go to Settings > System > Display > Graphics. This path comes from the Microsoft Support page for Windows 11; the Windows 10 menu was not verified, so it is not covered. Windows updates can change the layout, so if your screen differs, follow the official page.
3. 3Select the game or add it — Under Custom options for apps, select the app or game you want to assign. If it is not listed, use Add desktop app for a classic .exe program, chosen in a file-browser pop-up, or Add Windows Store app for a Store app. These button names come from Microsoft's English blog text.
4. 4Set the graphics preference and save — With the game selected, choose Options, then under Graphics preference pick Let Windows decide (Power saving), Power saving or High performance, and select Save. Microsoft tells you to choose one of these when your PC has more than one GPU. The same screen also holds per-app options such as Auto HDR and optimizations for windowed games, which this guide does not cover.
5. 5Fully restart the game — After saving, Microsoft says to restart the game or app. NVIDIA's help adds that programs that are already running keep their GPU, so they must be restarted for a new setting to take effect. Do not just close the launcher; end the game itself and start it again.
6. 6Confirm which GPU is really in use — With the game running, the Processes tab of Task Manager has a GPU utilization column plus a GPU engine column that shows which GPU and engine the number belongs to. The Details tab has no GPU column by default; right-click a column header and choose Select columns to add GPU counters. This comes from a Windows 10-era Microsoft developer blog, so the exact Windows 11 labels were not separately verified. With an NVIDIA graphics card, the GPU Activity icon in the notification area also shows which programs use the NVIDIA GPU.
7. 7Use the NVIDIA Control Panel only as a fallback — If Windows has no GPU setting for the app, you can choose one in NVIDIA Control Panel > Manage 3D Settings > Preferred graphics processor. NVIDIA warns that a selection may make some programs run incorrectly or shorten battery life; if that happens, return to Auto-select or the default. Programs on an external display driven by the NVIDIA GPU always use it regardless of the setting, and a manufacturer's custom power plan can prevent programs from using the high-performance NVIDIA processor. Procedures for AMD or Intel graphics software were not verified and are not covered.

Where to set and verify the GPU, and the conditions (from official documents)

Checklist when the GPU does not change

• Does Task Manager's Performance tab actually show two or more GPUs?
• Did you select the game in Graphics settings, change Graphics preference, and select Save?
• Did you fully close the game and start it again?
• Are the NVIDIA Control Panel and the Windows Graphics setting set differently for the same game? If they conflict, the Windows value wins.
• On a laptop, could an external display connection or the manufacturer's power plan be affecting the result?
• If nothing changes, have you checked whether the game is eligible for this setting and whether the developer's site lists GPU requirements?

Where GPU choice meets laptop recording

The settings in this guide belong to Windows and NVIDIA; this is not a guide to choosing a GPU inside DOR. The one place the topic meets recording is on a laptop with integrated and NVIDIA graphics: knowing which GPU runs the game is a starting point for judging the load of recording while you play. DOR is a free Windows app that detects supported games such as FC Online, records the full match to mp4, and saves goal scenes as automatic highlight clips. On PCs with an NVIDIA graphics card, NVENC hardware encoding is the default, and game audio and your microphone are captured together. If GPU usage while recording is still a concern after you set the GPU, continue with reducing GPU load while recording.

Official documents checked (as of September 30, 2026)

Menu names and behavior in this guide were checked on September 30, 2026 against the documents below and apply to Windows 11. If your screen or wording differs, follow the official pages. The per-app graphics preference steps are in Optimizations for windowed games in Windows 11 (Microsoft Support), where they are one step of a larger article rather than a dedicated GPU guide. Adding apps, Reset and the default high performance GPU come from Navigating the redesigned Graphics settings page (Microsoft DirectX blog), and the rule that the Windows preference wins comes from NVIDIA Control Panel Help. Hybrid-graphics behavior is from the NVIDIA Control Panel Help topic on power-saving GPU technology, the GPU columns from the Microsoft DirectX blog post GPUs in the task manager, and the integrated versus discrete GPU description and the keyboard shortcut from Microsoft Support.