1. Update your system drivers and bios, specifically your GPU drives. 
   1. This is the most common cause and should be performed first.
   2. The drivers should be downloaded directly from the GPU manufacturer site to ensure they are the latest.

Laptops, specifically, have two GPUs.  The integrated GPU and the discrete/dedicated GPU.  Intel commonly manufactures the integrated GPU, the discrete GPU will be made by Nvidia or AMD.  In some situations, we have found that the system may be using the integrated GPU and not using your discrete GPU for Ansys as it should.

Verify discrete GPU is being used

1. Open the Windows Task Manager. 
2. Launch your Ansys application and repeat the issue. 
3. Identify what GPU is being utilized while using Ansys:
   
   
   
4. If your discrete GPU is not being used, you will have several options.  Based on your system and environment, 1 or may of these options may need to be used.
   
    

Simulation Note

When a solve is being performed on a supported GPU, the Cuda metric is where you will see utilization during a solve. 

 

Manually set discrete GPU

Option 1 - Manually set Windows Settings to use the Discrete GPU

1. Right-click the Start Menu and select System > Select Display > Select Graphics. 
2. Browse to and select the application executable > select High performance. 
3. Do this for all impacted applications.
   
   

Note:

Option 2 - Manually set Nvidia Settings use the discrete GPU at all times

1. Open the Nvidia Control Panel and change the settings as seen below.
   
   
   
   

Option 3 - Disable the Integrated GPU in the Device Manager

1. Open the Device Manager > Expand Display adapters > right-click the integrated GPU and select Disable device.
   
   

Option 4 - Disable the Integrated GPU in the system Bios

1. Restart your computer and enter into the system Bios Press F12 or F2 key for Dell systems.

1. For basic on-screen rendering, you should have a ~5yr old or newer, discrete GPU with a minimum of 2GB of Ram for basic models and 4-8GB for medium to large models is optimal. 
   1. INFO - Ansys Hardware Recommendations & Supported 3rd Party Software
   2. Ansys Discovery Hardware Requirements (2023 R2) - Ansys Knowledge

Official support and compatibility are reserved for GPUs listed on Ansys' Tested Graphics Card PDF, found on their Platform Support Page. However, just because Ansys has not tested a specific GPU model, doesn't mean it won't work.  In our experience over the years, for basic on-screen graphics rendering (not solving) we've found that all adequately spec'd Nvidia GPU's, not found on the tested GPU list, have worked.

1. Check for official support.  Platform Support and Recommendations

1. Rule out your Model, Ansys Version & Computer as the Cause