Any precautions with installing a new Graphics card?

KENDAWG2000 · Dec 31, 2014

My Current system is:
-AMD FX 8320 (Overclocked to 3.9ghz)
-XFX R9 280 (Non X)
-8GB Ram
-600w PSU
-Motherboard - http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-SATA-6Gbps-Motherboards-GA-970A-DS3P/dp/B00CX4MUCC
I wanted to upgrade to a MSI GTX 970 4G Gaming

I have never installed a new graphics card, is there anything I should take precaution of?
Should I uninstall any drivers?
Should I just pop out my current card and pop in the new one then install the latest drivers?
Thanks
-Ken

alexoiu · Dec 31, 2014

Yes, uninstall the ATI driver, shut down, power off and swap the cards. Connect the PCIe cables, power on and start the board.

KENDAWG2000 · Dec 31, 2014

alexoiu :

Ok so just to clarify what you said,
-Uninstall amd ati drivers through like catalyst or gaming evolved.
-Next power off the pc and disconnect power.
-Swap cards
-Boot pc and install latest drivers

No bios or anything like that?

alexoiu · Dec 31, 2014

No. Only if not recognized, you might need to clear the CMOS.

KENDAWG2000 · Dec 31, 2014

alexoiu :

Yeah Like I said, never installed a graphics card so I have no clue

What is CMOS?
Does is absolutely need to be cleared?
And should I uninstall the AMD drivers (Which would remove catalyst) even though I have an AMD processor?

Like I said, bit of a noob

alexoiu · Dec 31, 2014

Yes, uninstall the Catalyst too.

KENDAWG2000 · Dec 31, 2014

alexoiu :

Okay, now just what is with the CMOS, Isnt it just that silver battery like thing on the motherboard?
Do I HAVE to clear it?
And isn't clearing it just removing it and putting back on the motherboard?

alexoiu · Dec 31, 2014

After removing the old card, power still off, remove the CMOS (silver) battery for a minute, then put it back and install the new card.
Clearing the CMOS will set BIOS settings to default.

KENDAWG2000 · Dec 31, 2014

alexoiu :

Ok awesome!
Thanks for all your help man. This forum is really the best

coozie7 · Dec 31, 2014

When switching chip makers it's a good idea to totally uninstall the old drivers, the normal uninstall routines have a nasty habit of leaving bits (pun intended) behind which can cause issues.
There's no need to mess around with the CMOS or BIOS.
Google 'graphics card replacement' or similar and you'll get plenty of videos on the subject.
My procedure:
Download and SAVE, do not install yet, the latest WHQL drivers directly from the Nvidia (or AMD depending on card) website. The driver download should be in the 'downloads' tab, found in the main Documents window.
Download DDU: http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html the download links are at the bottom of the article.
Open the 'downloads' window and create a new folder, name it as you want, then extract the DDU files to this folder.
Uninstall your current graphics software and restart into Safe Mode.
In Safe Mode run DDU, it'll restart normally, don't worry, once the system boots, shut it down and remove the power lead.
Swap cards.
Plug in the power lead, boot the system and install the drivers you saved at the beginning.
Reboot.
Possibly you'll need to adjust the screen res and colour settings but usually Windows does that automatically.
Done.

KENDAWG2000 · Dec 31, 2014

coozie7 :

When switching chip makers it's a good idea to totally uninstall the old drivers, the normal uninstall routines have a nasty habit of leaving bits (pun intended) behind which can cause issues.
There's no need to mess around with the CMOS or BIOS.
Google 'graphics card replacement' or similar and you'll get plenty of videos on the subject.
My procedure:
Download and SAVE, do not install yet, the latest WHQL drivers directly from the Nvidia (or AMD depending on card) website. The driver download should be in the 'downloads' tab, found in the main Documents window.
Download DDU: http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html the download links are at the bottom of the article.
Open the 'downloads' window and create a new folder, name it as you want, then extract the DDU files to this folder.
Uninstall your current graphics software and restart into Safe Mode.
In Safe Mode run DDU, it'll restart normally, don't worry, once the system boots, shut it down and remove the power lead.
Swap cards.
Plug in the power lead, boot the system and install the drivers you saved at the beginning.
Reboot.
Possibly you'll need to adjust the screen res and colour settings but usually Windows does that automatically.
Done.

OK thanks for responding. This sounds good aswell. I will probably try this first and if it doesn't work for some reason, I will continue with alexoui's plan.

Thanks

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