What's using my graphics card?
CapturePoint 6 reads faster on a supported graphics card, and how many documents it reads at once depends on how much of the card's memory is free when it starts. See what's using that memory in Task Manager, and which apps are worth closing before a big batch.
In about five minutes you'll see which apps are holding your graphics card's memory, and know which ones are worth closing before CapturePoint 6 reads a big batch.
Why free graphics memory matters
CapturePoint reads documents much faster on a supported graphics card. On its screens this is called Speed boost.
A graphics card has its own memory, separate from your computer's main memory, and most apps that draw on the screen use some of it. When CapturePoint starts reading, it checks how much of that memory is free and uses that to decide how many documents to read at once:
- More free memory: it reads more documents at once.
- Too little free for even one: it reads on the processor instead, which is much slower.
It makes that choice when it starts reading, so what counts is how much is free at that moment.
No supported graphics card in this computer? Then CapturePoint reads on the processor, and there's nothing on this page to free up.
See how much is in use
Press
Ctrl+Shift+Escto open Task Manager. (You can also right-click the Start button and choose Task Manager.)Choose Performance, then GPU. Task Manager calls the graphics card the GPU. If you see more than one, choose the one with the most Dedicated GPU memory; the other is the small graphics chip built into the processor.
Read Dedicated GPU memory. It shows how much is in use out of the card's total, for example
5.1/16.0 GB.
See which apps are using it
Choose Details. It lists every program running on the computer.
Right-click any column heading, such as Name, and choose Select columns.
Tick Dedicated GPU memory, then choose OK.
Click the Dedicated GPU memory heading. Click it again if the biggest numbers aren't at the top.
What you should see: a new column with how much graphics memory each program holds. Task Manager shows it in K: 1,000,000 K is about one gigabyte.
Three things that make the list easier to read:
- One app can have many rows. A web browser runs several copies of itself (for example, many
chrome.exerows). Add them together. dwm.exeis Windows drawing your screen. It always uses some. Because it also counts the windows it draws for other apps, the rows can add up to more than the total on the Performance page.- Ignore Shared GPU memory. That's your computer's main memory lent to the card. CapturePoint reads with the card's own, dedicated memory.
What to close, and what to leave
You don't need to close everyday apps. Each uses a little, and closing them usually won't make a real difference. The ones worth closing before a big batch are the heavy users.
| Leave running | Worth closing before a big batch |
|---|---|
| Web browsers | Games |
| Email, chat and meeting apps | Video, photo and 3D editing apps |
| Microsoft Office and PDF apps | Screen recording and streaming apps |
| File Explorer | Other AI tools that run on this computer |
Windows itself, including dwm.exe | Anything else holding about a gigabyte (1,000,000 K) or more |
Close them, then open CapturePoint
Save your work in the heavy apps and quit them the normal way.
Some apps keep running after you close their window. If one still shows in Task Manager, right-click its icon by the clock (click the up arrow there to see hidden icons) and choose Quit or Exit.
Open CapturePoint. If it was already open, close it and open it again, so it starts with the memory you freed.
Use End task in Task Manager only for an app that won't close on its own, because it doesn't save your work. Never end parts of Windows, such as dwm.exe.
CapturePoint tells you what was in the way
You don't have to guess. Run CapturePoint's speed test with your usual apps open: choose This computer at the bottom left, then Performance, then Run speed test.
After the test:
- If the score is low, the test lists What may have slowed it down:. A line like
Other apps were using the graphics card.means this page applies. - Under Up to you, the Free graphics memory row says whether enough was free when the test started. Its How to check link opens this page.
| What the Free graphics memory row says | What it means |
|---|---|
| Enough when it started | Nothing to close. |
Not enough when it started, naming apps and ending Closing … before you open CapturePoint lets it read more at once. | The apps it names held enough that closing them lets CapturePoint read more documents at once. |
Not enough when it started, naming apps and ending Closing … lets Speed boost start. | So little was free that CapturePoint couldn't use the card at all. Closing the apps it names lets it. |
Not enough when it started, with Most of it was in use by Windows and everyday apps. | Nothing to close. Everyday apps each use a little, and closing them won't make a real difference. |
No other app was using much of it when it started. | Other apps used less than about a gigabyte. The card's own memory is the limit, so closing apps won't help on this computer. |
Apps holding graphics memory when reading starts can make Speed boost start smaller, or not at all. | The row shows this until you run a speed test. After a test, with Not enough when it started, other apps held some of the memory, but closing the heavy ones alone wouldn't let CapturePoint read more at once. |
CapturePoint only names apps worth closing: heavy users holding about a gigabyte or more, and only when closing them would let it read more at once or let Speed boost start. It never names everyday apps such as your web browser, email, chat or Office, or Windows itself.
To see the difference, close the apps it names and run the test again.
Still slow after closing them? Contact Ademero support with your speed test score and what the Free graphics memory row says.