How can I find out which graphics card I have in my PC?

Sketch up is a graphics-heavy program. Knowing your graphics card can help you troubleshoot odd visual behaviors or recommend a good-performing card to other users. The easiest way to find your graphics card is to run the DirectX Diagnostic Tool:

1. Click Start.
2. On the Start menu, click Run.
3. In the Open box, type "dxdiag" (without the quotation marks), and then click OK.
4. The DirectX Diagnostic Tool opens. Click the Display tab.
5. On the Display tab, information about your graphics card is shown in the Device section. You can see the name of your card, as well as how much video memory it has.

If you're experiencing odd visual behavior in SketchUp, our Blurring/distorted images article may help you understand and resolve the problem.

What is a graphics card and a graphics driver?

Graphics card

The graphics components are the part of your computer that control and enhance how graphics (pictures, videos, programs, animation, 3D) are displayed on your computer screen.

Often, the graphics components are on a separate card that plugs into a slot on the motherboard, which is the main part of the computer. That's why the graphics components are commonly called the graphics card. Sometimes the graphics card components are build directly into the motherboard. 
Other common names for graphics components

Other common names for the graphics components are: video card, video adapter, display adapter, and graphic accelerator.

Graphics driver

The graphics driver is a program that controls how your graphic components work with the rest of your computer: your software, like SketchUp, your monitor, and so on.

More information

For more information about:

• The graphics cards that are recommended for SketchUp, click here.
• How to find out which graphics card you have in your PC, click here.
• How to update a graphics driver, click here.

How can you update your computer's graphics driver?

Sketch up is a graphics heavy application. We suggest always keeping your graphics drivers up-to-date. Updating drivers can often correct odd visual behaviors such as freezing, artifacts, model slicing, and slow performance.
Windows

If you have a notebook or laptop computer:
You should visit the website of the notebook manufacturer to download the latest driver.
If you have a desktop or workstation computer:
Before you can update the graphics driver, you need to know what kind of graphics card you have. For more information about how to find out what graphics card you have in your PC, click here.
Once you know the kind of graphics card you have, visit the manufacturer's website to download the latest driver. Here are links for downloading drivers from the most common graphics card manufacturers:

• NVIDIA: http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp
• AMD: http://support.amd.com/en-us/download
• Intel: http://support.intel.com/support/graphics/

If you upgraded your driver to resolve a display issue, and it didn't resolve the issue, you may consider installing an older driver for your graphics card instead. Older drivers may be available online or in a resource CD that came with your computer. NVIDIA, for example, offers a driver archive.

Mac OS X

1. Click the Apple logo.
2. On the "Apple" menu, click "Software Update."
3. If there is a Mac OS X update available, you can install it. If there is a graphics driver update, it will be included in the Mac OS X update.