How do you upgrade

L

Lolman

Member
Hello I was wondering how you find out how to upgrade your video card in your computer. Do I just google if it is compatible with my motherboard?
And what do I need... Do I need extra cables, do they come with the card I buy? What tools do I need etc? Thank you!

(this is mainly concerning the video card, but other upgrade help will be helpful!)

Thanks
 
What motherboard do you have?
What video card do you intend to get?
What model of power supply is installed?
 
Well I don't quite plan on upgrading now, but I would like to gain the knowledge so I do know how later on.

I have:
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-62P
Video card now: Radeon HD5870
Video card I'd like to get: (blank as undecided)
Power supply: Coolermaster real power 1000watts modular
 
That motherboard should be able to take any PCIe GPU. BUt you should not have to upgrade for quite a while unless you plan to keep maxing games. Heck, most games (mind you all DX9 releases, not DX10 or DX11) will still run 1080p just fine on 7900m GTX/x1950m XTX.

Maxxing games @ 1080p, you're looking at about end of life with the 5870. When next gen cards come out (HD8**0 and GTX7*0) Look at upgrading. Generally 2 to 3 generations is EOL for gamers.
 
I sorta get what you mean, I'm not planning on upgrading yet as this card can play BF3 on high with 60 frames. And most other games! but I just wanted to know how to xD
 
depends on the board. on my asus board, you unplug the PCIe power cable, remove the screw, and then have to carefully use a small screwdriver to depress the locking lever on the PCIe x16 slot. Then you simply pull up on the card and it is out. ASrock you generally just unscrew it and pull up.

Just press down on it to make it go into the slot. Then replace the screw, and plug in the power. Make sure to install the DVI cable to the monitor and reinstall drivers and you are done.


Sorry, I thought that you were asking about how to tell when you need to upgrade.

And that aside, if it runs what you need, then there is no need to upgrade. It is a decent card, but I would not vouch for it running anything other than games. That is where my troubles come in for AMD. Games okay (with some minor exceptions), but DirectCompute and CAD, it flat refuses to run without driver crashes. Info you probably don't need.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top