Nsight Graphics

Guides on how to install NVIDIA Nsight Graphics.

You must install the NVIDIA display driver that supports the Nsight Graphics tools. If you have an NVIDIA graphics card installed on your target machine, you likely already have an NVIDIA display driver; however, Nsight Graphics requires a specific version of the driver in order to function properly. From the NVIDIA web site, download and install the following display driver:

Windows Installation and Setup

Before you install Nsight Graphics, please make sure that you have prepared your system by completing the following tasks:

Task For more information, see...
Review the hardware and software requirements for the product to make sure that you have the minimum or recommended configurations. System Requirements for Nsight Graphics Software
Configure Windows 10 Hybrid mode to use the high-performance NVIDIA GPU for Nsight Graphics. Setup Hybrid Mode
Walkthrough how to make sure your system is running with the most current NVIDIA graphics driver. How To: Install the NVIDIA Display Driver

System Requirements

Nsight Graphics™ supports flexible hardware configurations:

  • Single GPU System
  • Dual GPU System:
  • Notebook equipped with NVIDIA Optimus technology: The recommended single notebook machine configuration for a GPGPU developer. This configuration supports both the Nsight Graphics Debugger and Analyzer using NVIDIA Optimus technology.

Display Driver

You must install the NVIDIA display driver that supports the Nsight Graphics tools. If you have an NVIDIA graphics card installed on your target machine, you likely already have an NVIDIA display driver; however, Nsight Graphics requires a specific version of the driver in order to function properly.

The required driver version can be found in the Release Notes.

Supported Graphics Cards

For the latest updates to the list of supported GPUs, see the full GPU list here.

C++ Capture Requirements

C++ Captures require that the host machine have Visual Studio 2015 or newer installed to compile. For Direct3D applications, this version of Visual Studio must have an SDK version that is compatible with the Direct3D SDK usage of the application being captured.

Installing the NVIDIA Display Driver

It is recommended that you install an NVIDIA display driver that Nsight Graphics2019.1 requires. See the Release Notes for more information.

If you have an NVIDIA graphics card installed on your target machine, you probably already have an NVIDIA display driver. However, Nsight Graphics™ requires an updated version of the driver in order to function properly. Please see the latest release notes for instructions on compatible driver versions:

To Install the NVIDIA Display Driver:

  1. Run the NVIDIA Display Driver installer.

    The Display Driver Installer appears.

  2. Follow installer directions until final screen. Do not reboot.

  3. When prompted, select No, I will restart my computer later.
  4. Click Finish.

See also: NVIDIA Driver Downloads

Setup Hybrid Mode

Nsight Graphics™ is able to profile and debug applications on laptops using Windows 10 Hybrid mode. In order to do so, you will need to configure your machine to use the high-performance NVIDIA GPU for Nsight Graphics.

There are two methods to direct an application to use the NVIDIA GPU.

  1. Configure all applications use the NVIDIA GPU.
  2. Configure only specific applications to use the NVIDIA GPU.

The first option is the easiest to control, but may adversely affect overall system performance. The second option is more fine grain and allows the system to maintain lower power.

To get started, right-click on your desktop, and open the NVIDIA Control Panel.

Once the NVIDIA Control Panel has opened, click Manage 3D Settings.

Option 1: Global Settings

  • On the Global Settings tab, select the drop-down menu under Preferred graphics processor, and select High Performance NVIDIA processor.
  • Click Apply to save the changes. All applications can now be profiled, traced, and debugged in Hybrid mode.

Option 2: Program Settings

On the Program Settings tab, you can add each application that should run on the NVIDIA GPU.

  • Under 1. Select a program to customize, press Add to select a running instance of the executable to be debugged, profiled, and/or traced. You may also Browse directly to the location of the desired executable.

    If you plan on running a serialized frame capture, the solution (and built executable) are typically found in:

    C:\Users\<user>\Documents\Nsight Graphics\Captures\<TimeStampedCaptureProcess>

    with the built executable in the subdirectory:

    <architecture>\<build>\<TimeStampedCaptureProcess>.exe
  • Press Add Selected Program to confirm your selection.

  • Click the drop-down menu under 2. Select the preferred graphics processor for this program:, and select High-performance NVIDIA processor.
  • Click Apply to save the changes. The specified application(s) can now be profiled, traced, and debugged in Hybrid mode.

Linux Installation and Setup

Nsight Graphics™ can be downloaded from the NVIDIA GameWorks Download Center, and is installed as a standalone application.

Host Setup

  1. Run the .run file.
  2. When prompted, accept the license agreement.

  3. Specify whether or not you want to create a symlink.

  4. Complete the installation.
  5. Install additional dependencies. On Ubuntu, for example, the package currently requires the following dependencies:
    1. libgstreamer0.10-0
    2. libgstreamer0.10-dev
    3. libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-0