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The GingerBIM 3D viewer draws your model on your computer’s GPU (graphics card). How fast it feels — orbiting, zooming, loading a heavy model — depends almost entirely on which GPU your browser happens to be using. Many Windows laptops and desktops have two GPUs: a low-power integrated one built into the Intel or AMD processor, and a faster dedicated (discrete) NVIDIA or AMD card. Windows puts apps on the power-saving integrated GPU by default — browsers included — so your dedicated card can sit completely idle while the viewer struggles. Switching your browser to the dedicated GPU is a one-time change and makes a large difference on heavy models.
On a Mac there is nothing to do — macOS handles graphics switching for you.

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Step 1 — Check which GPU your browser is using

Open a new tab, type chrome://gpu into the address bar and press Enter. (You have to type or paste it — browsers won’t let a link take you there.) Press Ctrl + F and search for GL_RENDERER. What it says tells you where you stand:
If your machine only has integrated graphics — most thin-and-light laptops, mini PCs, and office desktops — there is no dedicated card to switch to. The viewer still works; large models will just be slower.

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Step 2 — Point your browser at the dedicated GPU

These steps are for Windows 11; Windows 10 is nearly identical (Settings → System → Display → Graphics settings).
1

Open the Windows graphics settings

Go to Settings → System → Display → Graphics. You’ll see a Custom options for apps list.
2

Find your browser in the list

If Chrome is already listed, skip to the next step.If it isn’t, click Add desktop app (on newer builds: Add an app → Desktop app → Browse) and select the browser’s .exe:
  • Chrome — C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
  • Edge — C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe
Not sure where your browser is installed? Find it in the Start menu, right-click it → Open file location, then right-click the shortcut → Properties and copy the path from the Target field.
3

Set it to High performance

Click the browser’s entry → Options → choose High performance. Windows names the GPU it will use next to the option — check that it’s your NVIDIA or AMD card, not the Intel one. Click Save.
4

Fully restart the browser

The setting only applies the next time the browser starts — and closing every window isn’t always enough, because Chrome and Edge can keep running in the background.Right-click the browser icon in the system tray (bottom-right, sometimes under the ^ arrow) and choose Exit, then relaunch. Alternatively, type chrome://restart in the address bar to quit and reopen in one go.
5

Confirm it worked

Open chrome://gpu again and check GL_RENDERER. It should now read ANGLE (NVIDIA ...) or ANGLE (AMD Radeon RX ...) instead of ANGLE (Intel ...).Reload your model in GingerBIM — orbiting and loading should be noticeably faster.
On Windows 10 and 11 this per-app setting overrides the NVIDIA Control Panel and AMD Software. If you’ve set a GPU preference there and it doesn’t seem to stick, this Windows setting is why — change it here instead.

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Hardware acceleration is off

If GL_RENDERER shows SwiftShader, your browser isn’t using any GPU at all — it’s rendering in software on the CPU, which is dramatically slower for 3D. Turn it back on: open chrome://settings/system and enable Use graphics acceleration when available, then restart the browser. In Edge the same switch lives at edge://settings/system. If it’s already on but chrome://gpu still reports SwiftShader, the page’s Problems Detected section at the bottom usually explains why — most often an outdated or blocklisted graphics driver. Updating your GPU driver from the NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel website normally clears it.

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Other browsers

The same Windows setting works for any Chromium-based browser — Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi — just add that browser’s .exe in Step 2. Edge uses edge://gpu and edge://settings/system in place of the chrome:// addresses. Firefox also honours the Windows per-app setting; check its renderer under about:support → Graphics.

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Still slow after switching?

Windows and laptop vendor utilities throttle the dedicated GPU — or skip it entirely — on battery or in Power saver mode. Plug in, and set Settings → System → Power & battery → Power mode to Best performance.
That’s a one-off cost the first time a particular kind of object is drawn or selected, not a GPU problem. Subsequent interactions with the same objects are fast.
Loading several large models into one federated session multiplies the geometry on screen. Load only the models you need for the task, and hide what you’re not working on. See Projects, Models & Versions.If a single model is the problem, it’s often one or two very heavy objects rather than the model as a whole — see Simplifying Heavy Geometry.
Browsers share a limited pool of GPU memory across tabs. Closing other heavy tabs — especially other 3D or video tabs — frees it up for the viewer.
Still not right? Tell us what chrome://gpu reports for GL_RENDERER in the GingerBIM community or at hello@gingerbim.com and we’ll help.