How to enable dedicated graphics card (GPU) for DesignBuilder

- How to check if the computer has a dedicated graphics card?

To check this, open Windows Control Panel> Device Manager> Display adaptors.

See the screenshot below and if it says only Intel then you have an integrated card.

- How to set DesignBuilder to run with high-performance graphics card?

To set up to DesignBuilder with the dedicated GPU this can be done using the Windows 10/11 - Graphics settings menu:

1. Open the Start Menu and click Settings (gear icon).

2. Then select System.

3. On the Display section, click the Graphics settings.

4. Under 'Custom option for apps' click Browse.

5. Browse to C:\Program Files (x86)\DesignBuilder 

6. Select DesignBuilder.exe application with EXE format and then click Add. 

7. The 'DesignBuilder' item should now appear in the Graphics screen. Select it and click Options.

8. Select High performance before you click Save.

Note that in this case we are using the NVIDIA graphic card.

The final result will look like this.
 


9. Start a new DesignBuilder session.



- How to confirm if DesignBuilder is picking the high performance card

You can confirm if the DesignBuilder is running with the dedicated graphic card by checking the session diagnostics files that can be accessible from DB menu at File>Folders> Diagnostic files folder

Then open with a text editor (eg. NOTEPAD) the most recent file Diagnostics_xx_01_2020_xx_xx_xx.log and search the word "Renderer".
If the "Renderer" or "Card vendor" field says "Intel xxx" then it is using the low spec integrated Intel card.

It should look like the image below when running a dedicated graphics card.

See also:
Hardware Requirements
Which graphics cards do you recommend?