# How can I verify whether a process is actually using my GPU/CUDA?

**URL:** <https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/how-can-i-verify-whether-a-process-is-actually-using-my-gpu-cuda/384613>\
**Category:** Jetson AGX Orin\
**Tags:** gpu-computing, tensorflow, cudnn, cuda\
**Created:** [September 28, 2026, 8:27pm UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/how-can-i-verify-whether-a-process-is-actually-using-my-gpu-cuda/384613 "2026-09-28T20:27:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![satyatheja66](https://developer.download.nvidia.com/images/forums/profile-default-devtalk-84.png) [@satyatheja66](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/satyatheja66)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2026, 8:27pm UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/how-can-i-verify-whether-a-process-is-actually-using-my-gpu-cuda/384613/1 "2026-09-28T20:27:13Z")

</div>

I’m trying to understand how GPU acceleration works on my system, especially for open-source software and AI/ML tools that I run through VS Code.

I have an NVIDIA GPU installed and believe I have the necessary GPU drivers/software installed, but I’m not sure how to determine whether a particular application or process is actually using the GPU.

### **What I’m trying to understand**

1. **How can I check whether my NVIDIA GPU is working correctly?**

2. **Is CUDA required for every application that uses an NVIDIA GPU?**

3. **How can I tell whether a specific process is using the GPU?**

4. **VS Code and GPU usage**

5. **How do I verify the software stack?**

### **My main goal**

I want a reliable way to answer these questions whenever I install or run new software:

> **Is this application capable of using my GPU?**  
> **Is it actually using my GPU right now?**  
> **How much GPU/VRAM is it using?**  
> **Is it using CUDA or another GPU API?**  
> **Are all the required drivers/libraries installed correctly?**  
> **Is it running on the CPU because of a configuration or installation problem?**

I’m particularly interested in open-source AI/ML software and applications launched through VS Code.

What commands, monitoring tools, or diagnostic procedures would you recommend for checking this systematically?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AastaLLL](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/nvidia/user_avatar/forums.developer.nvidia.com/aastalll/32/14043_2.png) [@AastaLLL](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/AastaLLL)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 7:26am UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/how-can-i-verify-whether-a-process-is-actually-using-my-gpu-cuda/384613/4 "2026-09-29T07:26:58Z")

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Hi,

You don’t need to maunually install the GPU driver.  
The compatible driver is pre-installed in the L4T OS.

1. Please run the command below to check the GPU utilization (GR3D).  
The command also contains memory utilization info.

```auto
$ sudo tegrastats

```

1. Yes.

2. Please run the command below. You will need to use JetPack 7+ to get the information on the processes that use the GPU.

```auto
$ sudo nvidia-smi 

```

1. For example, below is the toy sample that is deployed on the GPU

```auto
$ python
Python 3.12.3 (main, Nov 6 2024, 18:32:19) [GCC 13.2.0] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import torch
>>> torch.rand(10).to(torch.device("cuda"))
tensor([0.1885, 0.9269, 0.7221, 0.9849, 0.4552, 0.9575, 0.3322, 0.7051, 0.8399,
        0.4589], device='cuda:0')

```

1. The GPU driver and CUDA toolkit are essential. And others depend on your use case.

For an AI use case, you can check the link below that running LLM model in a container.

> **[Models | Jetson AI Lab](https://www.jetson-ai-lab.com/models/)**
>
> Discover all generative AI models optimized for Jetson

Thanks.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![satyatheja66](https://developer.download.nvidia.com/images/forums/profile-default-devtalk-84.png) [@satyatheja66](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/u/satyatheja66)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2026, 4:48am UTC](https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/how-can-i-verify-whether-a-process-is-actually-using-my-gpu-cuda/384613/5 "2026-10-04T04:48:50Z")

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> [@AastaLLL](#):
>
> `sudo nvidia-smi`

Thank you!!!