NVTopal -- GPU Monitor
NVTopal is a terminal-based NVIDIA GPU monitor inspired by htop and nvtop. It parses nvidia-smi output to render real-time metrics for every GPU in your system, with a keyboard-driven interface.
Key Features
- Multi-GPU view -- All NVIDIA GPUs (0-N devices) in a single screen.
- Real-time graphs -- Sparklines for utilization, memory, temperature, power, clock speeds, and fan speed.
- GPU load averages -- 1-, 5-, and 15-minute load averages, the same shape as Linux's CPU load.
- Per-model GPU shader specs -- Built-in table of SM count, ROPs, and TMUs for accurate per-model reporting.
- Configurable -- Layout, refresh rates, sort order, and history depth via
config.yaml.
Requirements
nvidia-smion PATH (Linux, macOS, or Windows).- One or more NVIDIA GPUs visible to the driver.
Content for this section has not been authored yet.
Who Uses NVTopal?
NVTopal is for anyone who wants a terminal-resident, real-time view of NVIDIA GPU activity — the way htop shows CPU.
Running compute workloads
You're training a model, running local inference, or driving any sustained GPU workload, and you want to see whether utilization, memory, temperature, or clocks are drifting across the run. NVTopal keeps a live sparkline history per metric in a single terminal pane.
Multi-GPU machines
You have 2-8+ GPUs and want one screen that shows all of them at once, with totals and per-device detail. Sort by utilization, memory, or power to see which device is hot.
Where NVTopal Doesn't Fit
- AMD or Intel GPUs — NVTopal reads
nvidia-smiand is NVIDIA-only. - Historical retention and alerting — NVTopal is a live terminal tool. For long-term trending or alerts, use Prometheus + a GPU exporter.
- Multi-host visibility — NVTopal monitors the local machine. For fleet-wide GPU visibility, use a centralized metrics platform.
Content for this section has not been authored yet.
Content for this section has not been authored yet.
Content for this section has not been authored yet.