How Easy is It to Change Graphics Card
Upgrading your desktop PC'south graphics card can give your gaming a pretty big heave. It's also a fairly easy affair to do. In fact, the hardest part is choosing the right carte du jour correct card in the first place.
Your chief option in graphics cards is betwixt the two major makers of graphics chipsets—Nvidia and AMD. After narrowing that down, y'all'll find that there are lots of card manufacturers making different cards based on either of those chipsets. In the end, there are hundreds of customized models available on the market. You'll besides demand check for some basic compatibility issues with your PC. Does your motherboard have the right kind of slot for a modern graphics carte du jour? Will the card you want fit in your case? Tin your power supply handle a carte du jour with higher ability demands?
Join us every bit we walk you through figuring those things out, narrowing down your card choices, and then physically installing your new card.
Note: Even though AMD makes both CPUs and graphics cards, you can utilize graphics cards based on either of the major chipsets on whatever CPU you're running. In other words, you can run an NVIDIA bill of fare just fine on a PC with an AMD CPU.
Step I: Check for Basic Compatibility
Before y'all go shopping for a new graphics card, y'all demand to limit the parameters of your search to the cards that your system tin actually run. This isn't as large a bargain as you might recollect. If your computer has a costless PCI-Limited (PCI-East) slot and a decent power supply, it can probably run the lion'south share of modern graphics cards. Let'south start with that, why don't we?
Make Sure Your Motherboard Has the Right Kind of Slot
Today's graphics cards all employ the PCI-East standard for plugging into your calculator's motherboard. This standardized slot gives high-speed access to your PC's processor and RAM, and its position on the board allows easy access to the rear of the instance, letting you plug one or more than monitors straight into the carte du jour itself.
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Well-nigh all modern graphics cards crave a PCI-E x16 slot, and almost all motherboards that characteristic any full-sized PCI-E slots at all will take i. If you but have an x8-speed slot, that'll piece of work too, though performance on the most intense games might be a little limited. The important office is that you need a total-sized slot and not 1 that'due south designed for smaller x1, x2, or x4 cards.
The other matter to keep in heed is that a lot of the higher powered graphics cards are broad enough that they accept up the infinite of 2 slots. If y'all've already got some other blazon of card plugged in next to the slot you'll apply for your graphics card, you'll need to accept that space limitation into business relationship.
Make Certain the Card Fits in Your Case
Most total-sized belfry cases can adjust even the biggest graphics cards. If yous take a smaller case (like a mid-tower or meaty), you'll have fewer choices.
There are 2 primary issues here: carte du jour width and card length.
A lot of the higher powered graphics cards are broad plenty that they accept upward the infinite of two slots. If you've already got some other type of card plugged in adjacent to the slot you'll use for your graphics card, you'll need to take that infinite limitation into account.
The more thorny result is card length. While low-end and mid-tier cards are generally short enough to fit most cases, more than powerful cards tend to exist much longer. And in some cases your available infinite might be further express by where hard drives are installed, where cables are plugged into your motherboard, and how power cables are run.
Also some very small PC cases might limit the acme of the menu yous can apply.
The easiest fashion to handle all this is to pop open your example and measure the space yous have bachelor. When yous're shopping online for cards, the specifications should listing the measurements of the card.
At that place's also i more than factor to consider: the card's power inputs. Mid- and loftier-end cards require a dedicated electrical connection to the figurer'south ability supply. The plug for this cable is either on the top of the card, or on the end of it (the side opposite the monitor connections). You'll usually demand an extra half inch of so of clearance for this plug, in addition to the dimensions of the menu itself.
And speaking of power…
Brand Certain Your Power Supply Can Handle the Carte du jour's Power Requirements
You'll need enough ability coming from the ability supply unit to feed the the new graphics card, in addition to all of your current computer components.
Most of the fourth dimension this isn't an issue—a relatively inexpensive 600-watt ability supply can handle all but the about ability-hungry graphics card plus all the standard PC components. Simply if you're upgrading a inexpensive or compact desktop (or whatever non-gaming PC, actually), y'all need to bank check your power supply.
Specifications for graphics cards list their estimated power depict (or consumption) in watts. Make certain your power supply has at to the lowest degree that much bachelor (with a 30-40w safety margin) before making your last selection. If it doesn't, y'all need to cull a less powerful carte or upgrade your power supply at the same fourth dimension.
If you're non sure how much your other computer components are taking upwardly, use this handy online calculator. Find the power depict of other components, add them all upwardly, and see if there's enough left in your power supply to comfortably operate your new card.
If your current PSU tin can't power the card y'all want, and you can't upgrade the power supply, you'll need to choose a less powerful menu.
The other thing you need to check is whether you take an available power cable of the right type. Some depression-power cards tin run from the electricity supplied by the motherboard alone, but most cards need a separate input straight from the power supply.
Check the specifications on the card you're choosing. If the card needs a dissever input, it will require either a vi-pin or eight-pin plug. Some more powerful cards even require multiple connections. Make sure your ability supply has the right cables and plug types for the carte du jour yous want. On many modern ability supplies, those plugs are even labeled PCI-E.
If yous don't come across the right types of plugs, only your ability supply is otherwise powerful enough for your card, you lot may be able to find adapters (like these half-dozen-pin to eight-pin adapters). There are also splitters (like these that can split up a single eight-pivot plug into ii half-dozen- or 8-pin plugs).
Make Sure Y'all Can Connect a Card to Your Monitor
Of course, you'll need a monitor that tin can actually accept the video output of your new card. This usually isn't a big deal—most new cards come up with at least one DisplayPort, HDMI, and DVI connection. If your monitor doesn't use whatsoever of those, adapter cables are inexpensive and plentiful.
What If I Tin can't Upgrade?
If you can't upgrade your motherboard, power supply, or case to work with the specific graphics carte du jour yous want, or you're using a laptop and you want more than power than is available, yous too have the choice of using an external graphics card enclosure. These are basically external boxes into which yous can plug a PCI-Eastward graphics card. They have their own power supply and a style plugging into a PC (ordinarily via USB iii.0 or USB-C). Some come equipped with a graphics card already; some are empty enclosures for plugging in whatsoever card yous want.
They aren't an ideal solution. They do require an extra power outlet and a high-speed connection to your PC. Plus, they don't offer the same level of operation as an internal card. In addition, these enclosures outset at about $200 (without the graphics card itself). At that point, you have to start considering whether upgrading your PC or only building a low-cost gaming desktop is a better route to take. Simply for laptop owners or those who want a relatively piece of cake way to add graphical ability, they're an interesting alternative.
Pace Ii: Choose Your New Carte
One time yous've figured out what your PC can handle, it's time to cull your new card. And there's a lot to choose from. The first matter to take into account is your budget, so yous can narrow downwards from there.
Set Your Upkeep
The graphics bill of fare market is fairly competitive, and equally a general dominion, the more money yous spend, the more powerful the graphics bill of fare. Choose the best bill of fare that fits your budget.
RELATED: Why You (Probably) Don't Need a Crazy-Powerful GPU Similar the GTX 1080 Ti
Of form, there's a departure in how much y'all tin beget and how much you lot'll want to really spend. As a dominion of thumb, whatever card above the $250-300 signal (as long as it'due south installed in a capable PC) should be able to handle almost any new game that comes out. You can spend more to go more power and more features—a typical goal is 60 frames per 2nd in whatever type of game you similar to play—just once you get past the $500-600 range, you're looking at diminishing returns. The super-premium tier (the $800 and up cards), can handle pretty much whatsoever game at 60 frames per second on a typical 1080p monitor, with some going even faster or boosting resolutions to 4K or higher.
Notation: Due to thecontinuing influence of the cryptocurrency mining marketplace, prices for graphics cards are somewhat inflated at the moment. Cards normally at the $300 level or beneath are more or less unaffected, but more powerful cards like the GTX 1070 or RX Vega (and higher) are seeing sticker prices hundreds of dollars above MSRP. To put information technology bluntly, it sucks.
At lower price points (the $130-180 range), you can all the same play most games with a few compromises. Yous may need to lower the resolution setting or the graphical effects for newer games, only anything designed with a lower hardware tier in heed (like Rocket League or Overwatch) will all the same expect great. And of form, older games and indie second titles volition run merely fine.
Bank check Reviews and Benchmarks
Even in a item budget range, y'all'll detect a lot of choices between different brands and configurations. Here'southward where you lot'll demand to dive into the subtle differences to make your decisions.
We tin't cover every menu in this guide, merely the web is your friend hither. Read professional reviews of the cards you lot're looking at, and check out user reviews from places similar Amazon and Newegg. These reviews often point out little features or problems that you won't read nearly elsewhere. You can also search for benchmarks to run across how different cards compare, and sometimes how well those cards run particular games.
Consider a Few Additional Points
A few other general points to consider:
- VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive need fifty-fifty more than power than playing with a standard monitor, because they're rendering two video streams at once. These headsets generally recommend a GTX 970 card or better.
- Choosing between AMD Radeon and NVIDIA GeForce cards isn't typically all that of import—both companies offer designs at various price points and compete well with each other. Only they practise have frame-syncing technologies that are incompatible with each other. These are software and hardware tools that reduce stuttering graphics and frame loss, making the hardware-intensive V-sync setting unnecessary. AMD uses FreeSync while NVIDIA uses Thou-Sync. Both require monitors that are explicitly uniform with each organization, so if y'all have a FreeSync or K-Sync monitor, you lot definitely want to get an AMD or NVIDIA card, respectively.
- High-end gaming motherboards even so offer multiple 16x PCI-slots, and both ATI and NVIDIA offer multiple-carte connection setups (Crossfire and SLI, respectively). Merely in the last few years, advances in hardware take made these setups more or less unnecessary. You almost always see improve gaming performance from a more expensive, more than powerful single card than any combination of cards in Crossfire or SLI configurations.
- Almost all card manufacturers and retailers have surprisingly generous return policies. If you accidentally order the wrong bill of fare, you lot can normally return it within 14 days, so long as y'all keep your receipt (or confirmation e-mail). Of class, this doesn't utilize if you buy your card from secondary markets similar eBay or Craigslist.
Step Three: Install Your New Card
Later on y'all finally get your new carte du jour, it's time to plug that sucker in. And after the headache of sorting through reviews, choosing a new card, and parting with your coin, this part is piece of cake. You'll need a absurd, dry identify to work with plenty of table or desk space, a Phillips-head screwdriver, and optionally an anti-static bracelet to protect your PC'southward internal components.
Shut down your figurer, unplug all the cables, and move the figurer to your working surface area.
At present, it's time to remove the cover from the instance. On near full-size PCs, you merely need to remove a side console so you tin can get to the card slots—unremarkably on the left side of the PC if you lot're facing its forepart. On some PCs, you'll need to remove the whole case. And some manufacturers brand this harder than others. When in doubt, check your transmission or just search the web for how to take the example off your computer model.
Afterwards getting the cover off, lay your PC on it's side. Y'all should now be looking down at your figurer's internals. If y'all have a current graphics carte du jour that you're upgrading, you'll demand to remove it first. If not, skip to the next department.
Removing An Existing GPU
The graphics menu should be pretty obvious. It's plugged into one of the slots on the motherboard—normally the one uttermost from you if yous're facing the bottom of the computer—and has its monitor connections sticking out the back of the PC. It may or may not have cables from the power supply plugged into it. And information technology may or may not have fans right on the card.
Showtime, look for a power connexion on the installed card. This volition be a black plug with multiple pins, plugged into either the summit or rear of the bill of fare. Unplug the cable and set it aside. If you don't see 1, don't worry well-nigh it. It just ways your existing menu doesn't need separate power.
Now, wait at the metal piece where the graphics carte touches the back of the PC. You'll come across one or 2 screws (depending on whether it'southward a single or double slot card) securing it to the example. Remove these screws and ready them aside—you'll demand them for the new card.
Now, this next part can get a petty tricky, depending on how crowded your case is. Your card likely has a footling plastic tab that holds it securely into the slot on your motherboard. Y'all'll demand to accomplish under the card and push that tab to release the card. Sometimes, yous push the tab downward; sometimes to the side. And with bigger cards and more crowded cases, that tab can be hard to accomplish.
If you accept problem, just exist patient and make certain not to force anything. You lot tin can also bank check YouTube for videos of people demonstrating this on different types of rigs.
Now, you're ready to pull the bill of fare out. Gently grasp the card with your hand and pull up, starting with the side closest to the back of the case. It should come free easily. If it doesn't, you probably didn't get that plastic tab pushed all the fashion.
Y'all're at present prepare to plug in the new card, which is basically the same process in reverse.
Installing A New GPU
If you lot merely removed an existing card, you lot know where the new card goes. If you're installing a carte where there wasn't one before, discover the PCI-Eastward x16 slot on your motherboard—check this article if y'all're not certain which 1 information technology is. Remove the respective "blank" metallic piece from the case's expansion slot, or ii if it'south a double-width carte. Y'all may need to remove some screws to do this—fix them bated.
Gently slide your card into identify on the PCI-Eastward slot. As it's going in, be sure to marshal the metal piece that connects with the instance with the tab that accepts it.
When it'south in and perpendicular to the motherboard, push down gently until you hear the plastic tab at the end of the PCI-E slot "pop" into place. Yous may need to push it a little with your finger to brand sure it'southward physically locked into the receiver slot on the card.
Next, use the screws you set bated to secure the graphics card to the metallic piece at the back of the case.
And finally, connect the power cable if your card requires one. Whether you're using a half-dozen-pivot connector, an 8-pin, or multiple power connectors on a high-powered card, the plugs should just be able to fit in one manner.
Double bank check all the connections and screws to make certain they're firmly in place, and and then supersede the side panel or case comprehend. You're at present gear up to move your PC dorsum to its usual spot, plug in all your power and data cables, and turn it on. Make certain to connect your monitor to your new graphics menu, non to the video-out connection on the motherboard itself!
If your display is blank subsequently turning everything on, go back through this guide—you may non accept installed the menu correctly. The about common troubleshooting trouble is a menu that'southward not fully inserted into the PCI-E slot; double-check the plastic tab and brand sure it tin can lock in place.
Another cause for this happens when you're installing a new card on a system where you previously used the internal graphics built into the PC's motherboard. Most PCs automatically detect whether you've got a discrete video card installed and make it the default display. Some systems may not. Cheque your BIOS and you lot should find a setting that lets you set your default display.
If the monitor nonetheless isn't showing the kicking screen, you may have a more serious compatibility effect.
Pace 4: Install Graphics Card Drivers
When your PC starts, everything will probably wait fine. Windows includes bones drivers for most video cards. To get the virtually out of your new card, though, you'll need to download and install the right drivers.
Luckily, this is pretty elementary these days. NVIDIA and AMD both offer downloads directly on their website, separated into card and operating system directories. You lot'll also observe options for automatically detecting your card and showing you the drivers you lot need. Just select whichever ones employ to your system and download them in with your web browser. This might take a few minutes—the complete graphics suites are generally a few hundred megabytes.
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You fifty-fifty have the selection of installing apps from either company (NVIDIA's GeForce Feel or AMD'south Gaming Evolved Client) that feature advanced options like keeping your drivers up-to-date and optimizing graphics settings for games.
Epitome credit: Patrik Slezak/Shutterstock, Newegg, Newegg, Newegg, Newegg, Dell, NVIDIA
Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/345365/how-to-upgrade-a-graphics-card/