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GPU Troubleshooting

Solutions for GPU acceleration problems.

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GPU Not Detected

Echophrase auto-detects the fastest available GPU at runtime. If Settings → GPU Acceleration shows “Using CPU” on a machine with a DirectX 12 GPU, work through the checks below.

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Update your GPU drivers

Most GPU detection problems come down to outdated drivers. Install the latest from your vendor: After updating, restart your machine and relaunch Echophrase.

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Confirm DirectX 12 support

DirectML requires DirectX 12. Press Win + R, type dxdiag, and check the Display tab — under “Drivers” the Feature Levels line should include 12_0 or higher. Any GPU released since ~2015 should qualify.

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Want to use CUDA?

DirectML is the default on Windows and needs no setup. If you already have CUDA Toolkit 13.0+ and cuDNN 9.19+ installed, you can opt in to the CUDA execution provider from Settings -> GPU Acceleration: Echophrase downloads the CUDA runtime as a plugin (~650 MB) and activates it after a restart. You do not need CUDA to get GPU acceleration.

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GPU Detected But Not Used

Open Settings → GPU Acceleration and confirm:
  1. Auto (Recommended) is selected — this lets Echophrase pick the fastest device at session start.
  2. The inline status at the top shows your GPU (for example: “Active: Using DirectML (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080)”).
If the status still shows “Using CPU”, restart the app after a driver update. The execution provider is selected once at session start.

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Out of Memory Errors

If you see GPU out-of-memory errors:
  1. Use a smaller model — switch from Parakeet-TDT 0.6B to Parakeet Lite (see Requirements for the full matrix)
  2. Close other GPU-intensive applications
  3. Restart Echophrase to free GPU memory

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Performance Issues

If GPU transcription is slow:
  1. Confirm the active provider is DirectML (or NPU on Copilot+ PCs), not CPU
  2. Make sure your GPU isn’t thermal throttling under load
  3. Try Parakeet Lite for faster results on lower-end hardware