Tip #163: Measure GPU Performance on Your Mac
… for Random Weirdness
Tip #163: Measure GPU Performance on Your Mac
Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com
Hidden in Activity Monitor is the ability to monitor GPU performance.
We’ve already seen (Tip 156) how to use Activity Monitor to measure the performance of the CPU. However, hidden in a menu is also the ability to display GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) performance in real-time!
- Type Shift + Cmd + U to open the Utilities folder. Double-click Activity Monitor to start the app.
- Choose Window > GPU History.
As you can see in this screen shot, this displays current GPU performance with a new column every 5 seconds.
NOTE: The higher the bar, the harder the GPU is working. Bars that fill the screen represent 100% of total GPU output.
Energy usage related to GPU activity is incorporated into the energy-impact measurements in the Energy tab of Activity Monitor.
It doesn’t look like I can pull this info up on my 2008 Mac Pro running El Capitan. I was interested in seeing how my GTX 750 Ti was being utilized.
Zachary:
Good to know. This module appeared “recently,” but when exactly, I don’t know. My guess is Sierra or High Sierra.
Larry