How to Check RAM, GPU, and CPU Usage in Windows 11

Keeping track of your system resources can be important, especially when things are going wrong or your computer is running slow. If you're using Windows, there are tools built into the operating system that allow you to quickly look up how much RAM , CPU , and GPU are being used by a particular process.

How to Check Windows 11 System Resource Usage Using Task Manager

Task Manager is one of Windows 11 's main system resource monitoring utilities . This tool is the easiest way to see which programs and processes are running and how much resources each one is taking up.

Here's how you can check your PC's system resource usage using Task Manager.

1. Press CTRL + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager .

2. Click the Performance tab . This tab displays your system's RAM, CPU, GPU, and disk usage, along with network information.

3. To see your RAM usage, select the Memory section . This section will tell you how much memory your system is currently using, how much memory you have, and its specifications, among other things.

4. You can check your computer's processor usage by clicking on the CPU section . The processor box shows you the CPU usage percentage change, current clock speed, base clock speed, system uptime, etc.

5. Click on the GPU section to see how much GPU memory is being used. You can choose which one you want to see if your PC has two GPUs (like a laptop with an integrated GPU and a dedicated GPU).

Task Manager also has a neat summary view that only shows the system resource usage boxes. To switch to that view, right-click on Task Manager and select Summary View . The Task Manager window will then minimize as shown below.

To see which programs are consuming the most resources, click the Processes tab . This tab shows all running applications and background processes, their memory, CPU, disk, network, and GPU usage. You can also free up system resources by selecting unnecessary third-party background programs (or processes and services) that you don't need and clicking the End task button .

How to Check Windows 11 System Resource Usage Using Resource Monitor

Resource Monitor is a slightly more detailed monitoring utility than Task Manager in Windows 11. It first appeared in Windows Vista and has been part of every subsequent Windows release since. In addition to CPU, network, disk, and memory usage, Resource Monitor also displays real-time metrics like response time, throughput, and uptime, among others.

Here's how you can check system resource consumption using Resource Monitor.

1. Open the Start menu by pressing the Windows key , typing Resource Monitor and pressing Enter.

2. Select the Memory tab to view its resource usage graph. That tab includes a physical memory graph that shows how much memory is currently in use, how much is available, and how much is idle, along with usage percentage details.

3. Click the CPU tab to see a graph of its processor usage percentage.

4. Select the Network tab to view processes with network (Internet) activity.

5. Click Overview to see details about memory, CPU, network, and disk usage in one tab.

How to Check Windows 11 System Resource Usage Using Performance Monitor

Performance Monitor is the most advanced monitoring tool available in Windows 11. It is designed to help analyze system performance and resource usage, and provides system summaries, performance reports, and real-time performance charts.

Here's how you can view performance and system resource details using Performance Monitor on Windows 11:

1. Open the Start menu by pressing the Windows key , typing Performance Monitor and pressing Enter.

2. Select Performance on the left side of the window to view summary system resource usage data.

3. Click Performance Monitor to view real-time performance data. By default, the graph displays processor performance counters.

4. To add more counters to the chart, click the + Add button .

5. Then select a counter, such as Memory, in the window shown directly below. The committed bytes stream for the Memory counter highlights the average RAM usage over time.

6. Click the Add button .

7. Click OK to view the performance data for your selected counter on the graph.

You can analyze this data better by creating data collectors. To do so, select Data Collector sets in Performance Monitor. Right-click User Defined and select New > Data Collector . You can then set up a new data collector using the wizard that opens.

Information from data collectors will be available with reports. You can view information from data collector groups that you have run by clicking Reports in Performance Manager. Then select User Defined to view your data reports.

Check system resources with third-party tools

If you don’t like the built-in tools in Windows, there are plenty of third-party tools you can use to monitor your system resources. You can try something simple and lightweight like OpenHardwareMonitor , a free and open-source tool that shows you at-a-glance CPU, GPU, memory, and disk usage. It also lets you monitor minimum and maximum temperatures and fan speeds for various PC components.

Using this tool is also quite simple, all you have to do is go to the OpenHardwareMonitor website and download the tool. Once downloaded, just double-click the executable file to run it and you will see all the metrics you need.

Alternatives to OpenHardwareMonitor include HWiNFO , Libre Hardware Monitor , and MSI Afterburner , which can also be used for overclocking. That said, even though Windows has discontinued desktop widgets, you can use 8GadgetPack to add system resource monitoring widgets to your desktop. However, keep in mind that the program hasn't been updated in a while, so there's a chance it may not work as expected.

Windows 11 will become slower and less responsive to your actions when system resource usage is high (especially RAM and CPU). Whenever you feel the need to speed up Windows , check your PC's resource usage using the tools and utilities above.

Once done, you can identify which programs or background processes are consuming the most resources and close them. And when they get close to that limit, you should notice an improvement in overall system performance.