Adobe Photoshop CS4, CS5 and CS6 use the GPU when the installed video card supports the OpenGL standard and has at least 512MB of video RAM. The advantages of using a compatible video card with Photoshop are that you can experience better performance and a lot more fancy features.

Problems can occur if you have an older video card with limited video RAM or if you use other programs that use the GPU at the same time as Photoshop.

Most basic models sold by leading computer manufacturers today meet the minimum requirements, but the simplest way to verify is to check the “Graphics Processor Settings” area of the “Performance” panel. If Photoshop detects a compatible video card, it will be displayed, and the “Use Graphics Processor” option will be activated.

Now what is to be done if you know that your graphic card meets the minimum requirements, but the “Graphics Processor Settings” section is greyed out with the message: “Graphics hardware acceleration is unavailable” or “No GPU options available with Photoshop Standard“?

1. MAKE SURE THAT YOU’RE USING THE LATEST UPDATE OF PHOTOSHOP.
2. UPDATE THE DISPLAY DRIVER.

Updates fix bugs and issues so you should try to do this first. If these steps don’t make a difference and you still cannot activate OpenGL for Photoshop, there’s one more thing to be done.

3. MAKE A REGISTRY TWEAK TO FORCE THE OPENGL SETTINGS TO BE ON

1. Click the Start button, click Run, and type REGEDIT. Click OK
2. In the Registry Editor, open HKEY_CURRENT_USER
3. Open Software
4. Open Adobe
5. Open Photoshop
6. Now there’s a number wich may vary. In my case, the number is 60.0. You may see something different there – don’t worry, that’s all right. Right-click on the number, select New -> DWORD Value and name it AllowOldGPUS.
7. Now you have a new DWORD Value named AllowOldGPUS. Double click on it and set Value Data to 1.

Restart Photoshop and you’re done. Now you can go to “Preferences” -> “Performance” and enable OpenGL.