Now that you know about AGP and PCI, link hoki178 you need to find out which one your computer can use. Every computer has a PCI slot, so a PCI video card should be fine for anyone, but if you want to use the faster and better AGP technology then you need to find out if your computer has an AGP slot. You can do this one of three ways, call your computers manufacturer and ask, read your.
PC’s instruction manual, or open up your computer and look for a brown slot on your motherboard. PCI slots are usually white and AGP are brown, but it could be different for others computers. So just remember this, a PCI slot is bigger then an AGP slot, so if you have a slot that is smaller then the rest, that is your AGP.
Next we talk about features on your video card, and what they are all about. If you are a computer beginner or novice, then you need to know two important things about video cards. First is their memory size, which basically means how much RAM the video card has. The more the better obviously, but to much can be a waste of money, so just be sure to get the right amount for what you plan on doing.
Second are graphic capabilities, now there are all kinds of technical terms like floating points, pixels and lots of other technical gibberish. If you are a Windows user, all you need to focus on is the DirectX capabilities. DirectX is the software used to process the graphics information, so make sure you get a video card that supports the latest DirectX version. Find out what the latest version of DirectX is by going to Microsoft’s website.
Last but not least we move onto installing your new video card upgrade. This is actually the simple part and can be done by everyone who owns a computer. First you need turn off your computer and unplug everything attached to it. Then unscrew your computer case and remove it, exposing the inside of your computer.
If you are installing the video card in an unused expansion slot, then be sure to remove the slot cover on your computers case and save it for future use. If you are replacing your old video card, then you need to unhook any cables that are hooked up to it, and gently rock it back and forth out of the slot to remove it.
