Minecraft Won't Use Dedicated GPU: How To Select Graphics Card

Are you playing Minecraft, but the game won’t use the dedicated GPU? Do you have dual graphics cards on your PC, and the game is not running on Nvidia or AMD GPU? No need to worry; we will show you some solutions to fix this issue.

Minecraft game players often add an external GPU for a better gaming experience instead of the built-in integrated GPU with the PC processor. Although users can play a few Minecraft editions on the default graphic card, Minecraft Java edition users can give their world a more realistic look with a dedicated GPU.

However, Minecraft players often face a problem where the game runs on the onboard GPU instead of the dedicated one. Users have tried updating the graphic card driver, but the issue persists. Let’s find out how to make sure that your PC uses the dedicated GPU and what you can do to force Minecraft to use it.

Is dedicated graphics card good for gaming?

You can run the Minecraft Bedrock version with an onboard graphic card on your PC. However, you may get a low FPS and a lesser gaming experience while playing Minecraft Java edition. Also, the game takes longer to render new blocks resulting in lower FOV and choppy animations. Therefore, you can’t modify the game as well.

Dedicated GPUs, on the other hand, are great for Minecraft heavy rendering tasks. AMD and Nvidia graphic cards are great choices in this regard. They are customizable, and if you want to overclock them, you only need to increase your computer’s cooling efficiency.

How do I make sure I’m using dedicated GPU?

Sometimes, even when you use a dedicated GPU to run the Minecraft game, the system uses the onboard graphic card by default. Therefore, it makes the GPU rendering useless as far as the game is concerned. However, it is effortless to check if Minecraft uses the external GPU on a Windows 10 PC. To do this:

Launch the Minecraft Jave game on your PC.
Choose a world and allow it to load. Afterward, minimize the game.
Next, right-click on your Windows 10 taskbar and click on Task Manager from the menu.
Now click on the Processes tab and search for Minecraft.
Click on the Minecraft process and check the GPU Engine column at the right.
If the field value shows GPU 1, your system uses the dedicated GPU; otherwise, the PC runs the game on an onboard graphic card.

How do I let Minecraft use my GPU?

If your Minecraft won’t use the dedicated GPU while playing Minecraft Java or Bedrock version, try the following fix through your system settings.

Open your computer’s Windows 10 Settings app and navigate to the System option.
Now click on the Display tab and select Graphics Settings at the bottom.
Under the Graphics Settings tab, click on “Choose an app to set preference” to display the dropdown menu.
For the Minecraft Java edition, choose the Classic app. For the Minecraft Bedrock edition, choose the Universal app.
Next, click the Browse button for the Classic App or click the Select App option for the Universal App.
Choose Minecraft from the apps list and click on Add.
Now select Minecraft and click on the Options button.
Select “High Performance” from different choices and click on the Save button.
Finally, relaunch the Minecraft game. This time the game will run on the dedicated GPU instead of your PC onboard graphic card.

How do I force a game using my Nvidia graphics card?

Are you wondering how to force it when Minecraft won’t use a dedicated gpu? an example could be you would like to use an Nvidia GPU instead of an onboard graphic card? Do the following steps through the Nvidia control panel.

Right-click anywhere on your Windows 10 desktop and click on the Nvidia control panel.
In the left column, click on the Manage 3D Settings option.
Under the Global Settings tab, open the dropdown menu and choose High-performance Nvidia processor.
Now click on the Program Settings tab and click on the Add button under the “Select a program to customize” option.
Browse to the Minecraft bin folder (The folder is usually located at this path “C: Program Files (x86)Minecraftruntimejre-x641.8.0_25bin”).
Search for the Javaw.exe file in the bin folder and click the Open button to add the program.
Next, under “Select the preferred graphics card for this program,” click on the dropdown arrow to choose the “High-performance Nvidia processor” option.
Finally, apply the changes and use the Windows Task Manager to confirm that the Minecraft game uses the Nvidia GPU.

How do I choose AMD main GPU?

A lot of players choose AMD GPU over Nvidia. If you are one of those players and your PC is running the game on the onboard graphic card, do the following steps to force Minecraft to use the AMD GPU.

Right-click on your Windows 10 desktop and choose the AMD Radeon Settings option.
Next, navigate to the Systems option and select “Switchable Graphics” at the top right side of the screen.
On the top bar, select the “Installed Profiled Applications” option for a general overview.
Click on Browse and follow the path “C: Program Files (x86)Minecraftruntimejre-x641.8.0_25bin”.
Now locate the Javaw.exe file for Minecraft and open it to add the file to the Installed Profiled Applications.
Click on the arrow next to the Javaw.exe to expand various options.
Click on Designated GPU and then finally select High Performance from the list.

Now the Minecraft game will use your AMD graphic card for a better user experience. Just like the Nvidia GPU, confirm this action through the Task Manager utility as well.

Conclusion

Minecraft is popular amongst players, and teachers love to use it as a tool to teach their students. However, you can experience performance issues when playing the game with an onboard graphic card even though you have a dedicated GPU.

Hopefully, this guide helped you fix the “Minecraft won’t use dedicated GPU” issue. We recommend that you start by forcing your computer to use the dedicated GPU through the PC settings app and then move towards AMD and Nvidia fixes.