How to Connect a Video Card to a Computer

There are several basic rules under which the replacement, installation and connection and upgrade of the card will go without complications.

It should be noted that before buying it, it should be understood that the new card can lead to increased energy consumption. As a result of this, you may have to replace the power supply. Also look at the specifications of the motherboard of your computer which port it supports: AGP or PCI-Express.

In this article, we will talk about connecting and installing, as well as how to replace a card.

Treat the purchase of a card with maximum responsibility!

How to replace a card on a computer

First of all, in order to change the card, you must remove the old driver. To do this, turn on the computer. A driver is a kind of software, thanks to which the operating system coordinates the work of other components.

• Windows OS: removal through the device manager. Open the Start menu, then in the search enter “Device Manager”. Then find the Adapters tab. Click and remove your card, for this clearly follow the instructions on the monitor. After deletion, according to many users, the image quality decreases and becomes blurry.
• Mac OS X: driver removal is not required when upgrading a card.

Complete the work. Turn it off, and then disconnect all cables and wires, including from the card (if any).

Remove the left side wall of the system unit.

Next, find the slot to which the card is connected. Most often, this is the PCle port, which is located close to the processor. To determine the exact name and type of slot, read the documentation for your motherboard. It may also contain a built-in card or even be empty.

For further work with the system unit you need to ground. Static electricity can cause damage to other system components when upgrading a card. To do this, use a special bracelet or touch a metal tap with your hand.

Use a screwdriver to remove the screws that connect the card to the case. Take it off carefully.

How to connect a graphics card to a computer

Before installing a card, it is advisable to wipe off the dust inside the system unit case. A wet wipe, a can of compressed air, or a vacuum cleaner to collect dust from furniture can help. This is an important procedure not only when upgrading a card.

If you have already purchased a brand new card, now you can pull it out of the special package. It prevents static electricity from entering the surface of the card. Do not touch the contacts of the device.

Remove the metal inserts at the back of the system unit (if they have not already been removed). Place the graphics card in the PCIe slot. When it snaps into place, you will hear a click.

Check that the mounting holes on the device match the case. Immediately after, you can connect the necessary power from the power supply to the card and put the system unit in place.

Some cards do not have connectors for additional power. They do not need it, because they are powered through a PCIe slot. As a rule, these are budget cards, for example:

• NVidia GeForce GTX 1030
• NVidia GeForce GTX 1050
• NVidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
• NVidia GT Series
• AMD Radeon RX 460
• AMD Radeon RX 550
• AMD Radeon RX 560

After all the steps are completed, you can close the system unit housing and connect all cables to the system unit.

Connect a wire from the monitor to one of the slots. It is better to use HDMI, DisplayPort or ThunderBolt cables (if available), but if the monitor is “ancient”, then DVI or VGA.

Further, there are several options for the development of further events:

• Your system will automatically start the installation of the necessary driver, recognizing the graphics card.
• If this failed, then download it from the official website of the manufacturer or install via disk.

If the disk comes bundled with the card immediately, be sure to check the version. If necessary. Update through the official website of the manufacturer.

After installation, be sure to check the operation of the installed device. If you have computer games with advanced graphics, you can run them and increase the settings. Games can slow down not only because of the card. The weak link may be, for example, a processor or RAM.

If there are no complaints, then the upgrade of the card was a success!

A card is one of the main components of a computer, because it is it that is engaged in the formation of the image that the user sees on his screen. In addition, the card is often used as an assistant for the processor during complex calculations. In this article, we will talk about how to connect a card to a computer and how to properly prepare for this procedure.

Preparing to connect a card

Before connecting the card to the computer, you need to perform a number of preparatory steps. First, you need to turn off the computer and completely turn off its power, that is, disconnect the power cable that goes from the computer to the outlet. Nothing can be done without this simple precaution, otherwise you run the risk of getting an electric shock or damaging computer components. It is also advisable to disconnect all other cables from the computer, as they will interfere with your work.

Secondly, you need to remove the left side cover from the computer in order to access the components.

As a rule, the cover is fixed to the body with two screws in the back. Remove these screws, slide the cover back a bit, and remove it from the computer. After the cover is removed, put the computer on its side, so that it is convenient for you to work with its insides.

Disabling an old card

Before you connect a new card to your computer, in most cases you need to remove the old one. To disable the card, you need to do a few simple steps. You should start by loosening the screws that attach the card to the computer case. Usually these are 1 or 2 screws, they are located on the left side of the card.

The next step is to disconnect the additional power cables for the card. These are 1 or 2 cables that go from the power supply and are connected on the right side of the card. To disconnect these cables, press the cable lock and gently pull the cable toward you. If the card is not expensive, then there may not be any additional power cables.

Then the hardest part. You need to release the latch that secures the card to the motherboard and at the same time gently pull the card towards you in order to pull it out of the PCI Express slot. The latch is located on the right side of the PCI Express connector on the motherboard. In this case, the latch may have a different design, depending on the model of the motherboard. Most often there is such a latch as in the photo below. It needs to be moved towards the processor.

After releasing the latch, the card should exit the PCI Express slot with almost no effort. If you cannot pull out the card, it means that the latch still holds it.

Connect a new card

After the PCI Express slot is released, you can begin to connect the new card to the computer. First you need to insert the card into the PCI Express slot. In this case, you must ensure that the card clearly gets into the connector, and the metal edge of the card does not damage the motherboard. At the time of installation, you should hear how the latch worked, while the card should stand in the PCI Express slot equally on both sides and stand straight.

After the card has been connected to the PCI Express slot, it needs to be fixed in the case. To do this, tighten 1 or 2 screws on the left side of the card.

Next, you need to connect the additional power cables from the power supply (if the card has connectors for additional power).

This completes the connection of the card to the computer. You can reinstall the side cover, connect cables, and turn on the computer.

Most people believe that connecting a card to a PC is a very complicated operation, which can only be trusted by specialists in this field. In fact, everything is not so scary and connecting a card is not something complicated. This article describes in detail the sequence of operations required to connect a card to a PC.

Connecting a card to a PC

Most experts advise connecting the card at the very end of the assembly of a personal computer. This advice is due to the fact that, at present, cards have rather large dimensions and this can create some inconvenience when connecting other components to a PC.

For security reasons, first of all you need to disconnect the PC from the mains. To do this, disconnect the cable going to the power supply unit of the personal computer. To access the contents of the PC you need to remove the side cover of the case.

To connect all modern graphics cards to a PC, you must have a PCI-E connector on the motherboard. This article only discusses the connection of cards with the type of connector PCI-E x16. In some motherboards, there may be several, and most often they differ in data transfer speed. You can find out the characteristics of the connectors either in the instructions for the motherboard or on the official website of the manufacturer. It is desirable to connect the card to the connector with the highest bandwidth. Most often it is the topmost slot.

The next step is to remove the plugs on the back of the case. In most cases, you can simply break them out, but in some models of the housings, the caps are screwed. The number of vacant holes depends on the number of connectors to which output devices (monitor, TV, projector, etc.) are connected. These connectors can be arranged in several rows. Also, if the card has a ventilation grill, then it is also necessary to remove the plug for it.

Now you can insert the adapter into the selected slot. This should be done carefully without applying extra effort and to a characteristic click. The operation of the so-called “lock”. Install the card so that the cooler looks down. It is difficult to make a mistake in this case, because the PCI-E slot only offers this installation option.

The next step is to provide the card with additional power. This step should be skipped if the card does not have connectors for additional power. These connectors for cards can be of various types: 6 pin, 8 pin (62), 66 pin and others. This nuance should be considered when choosing a power supply. To connect a card, it must have the correct type of connectors. If such connectors are not included in the configuration of the power supply, then molex adapters with 8 or 6 pin should be used.

At the final stage of connecting the adapter, you should fix the device in the selected connector. This is done with the help of screws, which can be found in the set of fasteners for the case or card.

After the last step, the connection of the card to the PC can be considered completed. Next, you need to install the side cover of the case and connect the power cable to a personal computer. You can start using the card after installing the appropriate drivers. They can be supplied with the card, and they can always be downloaded from the official manufacturer’s website.