Graphic cards (GPU) questions

[Rub'Rum]

Ok, thanks again guys. I ordered it I'll be dusting my computer more often now...

What would I do without you all, I'd probably a bum on the street and sleep in a cardboard box. Probably.

EDIT: Now that I think of it: do you guys recommend doing any clean-up before I install the card? Do I have to uninstall drivers of some sort? Or I just plug the sucker in, download the latest drivers, and somehow nothing conflicts with the 2900 HD stuff that was on the computer before? They need to teach this stuff in kindergarten.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Uninstall the drivers, make sure they're completely gone.

Use Driver Sweeper to make sure there's no remains left.

Then yes, just download the latest drivers available and install them.

 

[Rub'Rum]

The card arrived today. It was about time because since Sunday, my computer would now pretty much just refuse to even turn on. I plugged it in and had a bit of annoyance trying to set the drivers right. It now works and I haven't had any new problem. Hopefully it works for real and it's just not a temporary fix to another more subtle problem that I wouldn't have noticed before.

And as you guys said, it's a major boost to gameplay. I tried Far Cry 2, the most demanding game installed on my PC right now I guess, and I ran it on Ultra/very high and it runs almost completely smooth, I might take a setting or 2 down regarding shadows... But with my previous card I could only run it at medium, with a few settins at high.

So we'll see how things go for the next week... Up to now, thanks for worthy advice

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Which one did you get again?

 

[Rub'Rum]

The Sapphire Radeon HD 5770, the cheapest HD 5770 that was available. The card I'm replacing was a Sapphire HD 2900, and it ran for 2 years and a half so it's not too bad. At this point, I was already considering a change of card when it apparently died down anyway. I say "apparently" because I wonder if somehow it's not really broken...

I have careful optimism for now because last time my card was giving me problem, I unplugged it, cleaned it a bit, and plugged it back in and it was fine... for a while. So I'm worried that now everything's working fine only because I unplugged/plugged something back. Aaaaanyway.

 

[GenMarshall]

How easy is it to replace a video card? Or more precise, upgrade a video card?

Don't have any issues with my current one, but it's nice to know when the day comes to upgrade.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

If you pick the right one, its a matter of unscrewing a couple of things, pulling out the old card, putting in the new one, plugging it in and installing the right drivers (making sure to wipe off the old ones)

 

[Rub'Rum]

How easy is it to replace a video card? Or more precise, upgrade a video card?

Don't have any issues with my current one, but it's nice to know when the day comes to upgrade.

The act of changing the card itself is rather easy, remove a couple of screws, unplug and take card out, plug new one in, plug in the power supply, put the screws back, yay. The card plugs in your motherboard in a very obvious spot, and the only other wire you need to connect is the powersupply. Your card gets its power straight from the power supply right...

When you boot your computer it should detect it. But it'll be confused because of the drivers and all. So yeah, cleaning up the drivers first and reinstalling the newest ones is mandatory. I know my PC was unhappy until I had cleaned drivers quite thoroughly, through the windows "add/remove programs" PLUS driversweeper as directed by genocidicbunny.

It's just, you have to make sure your that motherboard can take the new card (proper slot), that your power supply is powerful enough, and that it has the proper connection(s)/cable(s). My card came with the proper powersupply wires but my powersupply already had the right cables coming out of it for that card... If not, I'm not sure what I would have been expected to do with just a power supply-to-graphic card cable... It seems the power supply cables start from inside the power supply itself, I wasn't going to open that black box of death.

Well, anyway, I learned most of this half by myself and the indications given to me here, so I'm not really an expert hehe.

 

[GenMarshall]

So it's enentially uninstall the video card driver, turn off computer, swap cards, then turn computer back on and install the driver?

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Pretty much. Simple no?

 

[Rub'Rum]

So it's enentially uninstall the video card driver, turn off computer, swap cards, then turn computer back on and install the driver?

Once you have all the motherboard/power supply stuff figured out, pretty much yes. You see my problem was that my card had now completely died. So I couldn't even turn on my computer and make it into windows to uninstall my drivers. I had to put the card in before I could uninstall the drivers. So that messed me up a bit, but even then I managed it.

 

[Maniacal]

Pretty much. Simple no?

Not quite, I find myself and people I have observed spend far more time researching and deciding on a new card than actually installing it

 

[Genocidicbunny]

I meant the installation, not the research. I never said anything about the research being easy.

 

[Dida]

How easy is it to replace a video card? Or more precise, upgrade a video card?

Don't have any issues with my current one, but it's nice to know when the day comes to upgrade.

It works like this:

-uninstall old driver
-open case, take out old card
-put in new card, close case
-install new driver

So easy even a caveman can do it. Oh, actually ATI has an TV ad where it shows even monkeys can do it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DPQW0e9ufM

 

[GVBN]

So easy even a caveman can do it. Oh, actually ATI has an TV ad where it shows even monkeys can do it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DPQW0e9ufM

I like how the monkey's hands change colors when he inserts the card and presses the power button

 

[Maniacal]

That is a horrible ad, though better than most.