In the event that you have a gaming laptop with both an integrated GPU and a dedicated graphics card, you might not want Windows to always decide which graphics processor your games should utilize.

Recently, I checked out my Windows 11 Graphics settings and found I could choose a specific GPU to assign to individual gaming applications. In my case I had the AMD Radeon 780M and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU both detected so I was able to set a game to use the NVIDIA GPU under High Performance.

This can be especially useful when you want to squeeze the best possible performance out of a demanding game without changing up your entire system setup.

In this guide, I will show you how to optimize gaming apps in Windows 11 using the built-in Graphics settings. I will also show you how to select your high-performance GPU and what some of the other graphics options actually do.

Modern laptops can have more than one GPU. For example, a laptop may have:

• An integrated GPU for everyday tasks
• A dedicated GPU for demanding games and applications

Windows can manage these automatically, but you can also set the graphics preference for specific applications. This is useful if you're experiencing things like:

• Lower-than-expected gaming performance
• A game appearing to use the integrated GPU
• Poor FPS in demanding games
• A game not using your dedicated graphics card
• Wanting more control over which GPU individual games use

Important to note of: Selecting High Performance doesn't magically increase the capabilities of your hardware. It simply tells Windows to prefer the designated high-performance GPU for that application.

1. Open Windows Settings

Go to: Settings → System → Display → Graphics or Search "Graphic settings"

This is where Windows 11 provides graphics preferences for applications.

2. Find Your Gaming App

• Under Custom settings for applications, look for the game you want to optimize.
• If Windows hasn't automatically added it, select: Add desktop app → Browse

  Then locate the game's .exe file.

  
  

Note: Some applications can be difficult to find; for example, I had difficulty locating the specific folder of the Inzoi game. So here's what I've done to add this app to the graphics settings: 

• On Steam> look for the game under "Library" > right-click on the game and click on "Properties"

• Then click on "Installed Files" > "Browse"

• File Explorer will open directly to where the game data is located. From there click on the three dots > and "Copy Address as Text" 

• Go back to the Graphic Settings > "Add desktop app" > Then paste the address of the file

Make sure to select the .exe of the application. This is important because some games may have multiple executable files. You want to select the executable that actually launches the game.

3. Choose your GPU Preference 

• Once the app is selected, you'll see a setting called: GPU preference

  This is the part I was specifically looking for on my own laptop.

  
  

Depending on your hardware, you may see options such as:

1. Let Windows decide
2. Power saving
3. High performance

If your laptop has a dedicated NVIDIA GPU, High performance may show something similar to: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU > Select that option.

This tells Windows to prefer the high-performance GPU for that particular gaming application.

Windows notes that applications or games may need to be restarted before graphics-setting changes take effect.

Should You Set Every Game to High Performance?

Not necessarily. 👀

If your laptop has both integrated and dedicated graphics, you might want to have demanding games use the dedicated GPU, but let less demanding applications stay on the integrated graphics processor.

They’re not rules that apply to everyone. The best choice can depend on your hardware , game , drivers , power settings and display setup .