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Check NVIDIA GPU Usage with nvidia-smi

Query GPU name, temperature, utilization and memory with a single nvidia-smi command on Linux.

LinuxgpumonitoringdriversnvidiaLow risk
Run nvidia-smi --query-gpu=name,temperature.gpu,utilization.gpu,memory.used,memory.total --format=csv to get a one-line-per-GPU report.

01Command

Command
$ nvidia-smi --query-gpu=name,temperature.gpu,utilization.gpu,memory.used,memory.total --format=csv

02What it does

nvidia-smi ships with the NVIDIA proprietary driver and reports real-time GPU statistics without opening any GUI tool. The --query-gpu flag lets you pick exactly which metrics to show, and --format=csv keeps the output easy to read or pipe into a script. Running plain nvidia-smi instead gives you a dashboard-style summary including the processes currently using the GPU.

03Risk

RiskLow risk
RequirementsNVIDIA GPU with the proprietary driver (nvidia-utils) installed

04Undo

✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.

05Sources

  • nvidia-smi(1) — Ubuntu manpage
    Ubuntu · community · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: Man page documents nvidia-smi with the --query-gpu option and csv --format for reporting GPU statistics
  • nvidia-smi(1) — Arch Linux manual
    Arch Linux · community · 2026-09-17
    Evidence: Arch manual lists nvidia-smi's --query-gpu flag with per-GPU metrics such as temperature and utilization

Last verified: 2026-09-19 · Category: System & Settings

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