Graphics card replacement

The operation of replacing the graphics card is one of the simplest, and at the same time the most frequent updates. You can find various types of graphics cards on the market. They belong to the group of the largest producers: Diamond, you, STB, Hercules or Matrox. Before you decide to replace your graphics card, check it out, whether your PC-et has a PCI or AGP slot. Older metal plates are usually only equipped with PCI slots. The newer ones also have an AGP connector, which allows you to get more efficiency. It happens, that computers with AGP cards do not have an AGP slot, they are only integrated into the motherboard. Then the only way out is to disable the graphics processor in the BIOS, then installing the PCI card.

The type of card you should choose depends on this, what we want to use it for. If we want to use office applications and we do not need advanced three-dimensional graphics, then we only need a card that supports 2D graphics. In other cases, it is good to stock up on a more efficient monster.

This should not be too much to worry about, as all cards available on the market now support both 2D and 3D graphics. This does not mean, however, that both technologies are used in the same way. It happens, that the graphics card can better eg. support 3D graphics, and 2D a bit worse. As for RAM, that's usually it 8 MB RAM, although this should be taken into account if computer games are our goal, which sometimes require 16 MB RAM. The more memory, the more realistic the picture becomes.

Now let's take a look at installing your graphics card. We will not describe here how to remove and insert the card one by one, but we will provide you with rather more details, as well as important tips:

• try to find the latest driver for your graphics card. Program, which you install on your PC mediates between the card and the system. It largely affects the efficiency and reliability of the system. It is often like this, that companies producing graphics cards make sure that the driver is up-to-date. However, before you install a brand new card, check the version of the offered driver on the manufacturer's website. If the program available on the website is a newer version than the one we got with the card, then you should download it to your computer. It is often like this, that you need to unpack the file, which is usually placed by the manufacturer in a ZIP compressed or self-extracting form.
• when you have installed the drivers, turn off the computer, disconnect the monitor cable and remove the side cover. Gently remove the old graphics card. Znajdź gniazdo AGP lub PCI w zależności jaką kartę posiadasz. On some motherboards, they are marked with the letters A and B. Insert your new card into the AGP-C or PCI-D slot and tighten or clip the attachment. Then connect the monitor cable to the input on the graphics card. Do not replace the side cover yet.
• once you've got your graphics card in the box, it's half the job behind you. Now turn on the computer. When it is ready for operation, a message on the detection of a new device and software installation should appear on the screen. If you have downloaded the latest manufacturer's driver, specify its location on the disk during installation. If you don't have one, put the CD attached to the box with the card into the CD-ROM. After the installation process is complete, you just need to restart your computer.
• when the computer restarts it will work with the default settings. The rest of the instructions on changing the card settings can be found in the instruction manual or in the service booklet.

And so the replacement of the graphics card comes to an end. It is worth downloading a program that monitors the operation and temperature of the card to your computer.