How to Check Your Graphics Card and Install Proprietary GPU Drivers in Ubuntu

When you install Ubuntu on a laptop or desktop equipped with a dedicated Nvidia GeForce or AMD Radeon graphics card, the operating system initially defaults to the open-source Nouveau or Mesa display drivers. While these open-source drivers work fine for basic web browsing and office productivity, they lack hardware video acceleration, efficient power management, and Vulkan performance required for Steam gaming, 3D Blender rendering, and video editing. Installing the official proprietary GPU drivers unlocks the full horsepower of your graphics hardware.

Step 1: Identify Your Exact Graphics Card Model

Before installing drivers, confirm which physical GPU is installed in your computer:

1. Open the Terminal by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T.
2. Run the PCI hardware query command:

   lspci | grep -E "VGA|3D"

3. The terminal will return the exact vendor and model of your graphics adapter (for example: NVIDIA Corporation GA106 [GeForce RTX 3060]).

Step 2: Install Proprietary Drivers Graphically via Software & Updates

Ubuntu provides a built-in graphical hardware manager called Additional Drivers that automatically detects and tests driver compatibility:

1. Press the Super key (Windows key), type Software & Updates, and open the utility.
2. Click on the Additional Drivers tab on the right side of the top navigation bar.
3. Ubuntu will scan your system hardware for several seconds.
4. Locate the section dedicated to your Nvidia GPU.
5. You will see a list of available driver packages. Select the option labelled Using NVIDIA driver metapackage from nvidia-driver-[version] (proprietary, tested). Always select the newest version with the (proprietary, tested) label.
6. Click the Apply Changes button in the bottom-right corner.
7. Enter your user password when prompted for administrative authentication.
8. Ubuntu will download and compile the GPU kernel modules. Once complete, restart your computer to load the new drivers.

Step 3: Alternative Fast Command-Line Installation

If you prefer installing drivers via terminal without navigating GUI menus:

1. Check which driver Ubuntu recommends for your card:

   ubuntu-drivers devices

2. Install the recommended proprietary driver automatically:

   sudo ubuntu-drivers install

3. Reboot your system:

   sudo reboot

Step 4: Verify GPU Driver Operation

After rebooting, verify that your proprietary driver is functioning correctly:

nvidia-smi

This command prints an active hardware monitoring dashboard displaying your driver version, CUDA version, GPU temperature, fan speed, and active VRAM utilisation, confirming your card is running at peak capability.