Installing a Graphics Card

Hey, if you are buying a graphics card and you don't know how to install it, here is a tutorial. (I really have no idea for an introduction).

But really, here is a tutorial to install a graphics card.

Things I will go over in this tutorial:
Why You Need a Graphics Card (And comparing to integrated graphics)
Case Inspections
Choosing a Graphics Card
Preparing Your Motherboard for Installation
Installing Your Graphics Card
Getting a Video Output to Your Monitor

(I will be using Roman Numerals as numbers)

I Why You Need a Graphics Card

There are a variety of very major reasons you WILL need a graphics card, but if your know about integrated graphics you might be using that right now or don't have a graphics card at all!
One of the most major reasons you will need a graphics card is a better video output, integrated graphics DO have a video output that comes from the motherboard, but integrated graphics have a very low limit on what resolution it can handle. With a graphics card, you have a higher graphics resolution limit. This means you can run games and tasks at higher resolution and keep lag out, and maybe even run a monitor (The resolution of it). Also integrated graphics will never achieve the same performance as a graphics card (Unless the card is crappy).
So maybe that cleared up your mind whether to buy a graphics card or not.

II Case Inspections

Before you do anything (Even choosing your card, I'll show you why) you have to make sure your case can fit a graphics card. Try to make sure the length of your case is about 19 inches (The perimeter) and if your hard drive and 5.25" drives are (Obviously) 5.25" you will have around 14.75" to fit a graphics card. And try to make sure you have at least 12" of spaces for a graphics card (Behind the 5.25" drive bays) because most, powerful, cards these days are around 11".
And once you have checked you have a minimum length for a graphics card, you can start to choose your graphics card (It might not make sense to you the first time) and if the graphics card is over 11" (In inches) maybe you should consider buying a new case.

III Choosing a Graphics Card

This ALL depends what you will use your graphics card for, workstation cards are designed (I think) for 3D modelling.
Gaming cards are meant to (I think) produce graphics at a given resolution, graphics demanding games will require a beefy graphics cards such as Assassins Creed: Unity (VERY demanding) and Metro: Last Light (Used in some graphics benchmarks). I have some links below for workstation card and gaming cards. But one thing I have noticed is that good workstation card are from $500-$4000 so invest in a lot of money (Or just put GTX 980s in SLI and build a computer) if you want a blazing fast workstation card. And the most expensive gaming card I have seen is the GTX TITAN Z which is at retail for about $1500-$3000.So just keep in mind what you will use your graphics card for.

IV Preparing Your Motherboard for Installation

This is VERY, VERY easy. Just pull the tab on your PCI-Express Lane on your motherboard (Or just see which connector corresponds with each other and that is your PCIe lane) to the side or push it down.

V Installing Your Graphics Card

This is also very easy, remove all the coverings on your graphics card (The plastic coverings, the should just come off if you pull hard enough) and you should have pull out a covering that reveals some gold-colored contacts. Avoid touching these to possibly prevent failures in your card. Now, take your graphics card and align the contacts with the PCI-Express lane and push the card in. You should hear a click and see that the tab retracted to its original place. You might not hear the click if you are in a noisy environment but you should see the tab retracted in its original place.

VI Getting a Video Output to Your Monitor

You should have a monitor for your computer (Or you just wasted hundreds of currency units for no reason). On your card you should find a DVI or VGA video output thing (Don't know what to call it) and they both look different. Your monitor has a video input cable, usually a DVI or VGA. If neither get an adapter that corresponds with the input and output. And to attach your monitor to your graphics card, just plug in the input cable to the output cable and screw the screws in.


So that wraps up this tutorial, please message me if this helped.

Also check out my "Installing a CPU" tutorial, just click all tutorials on the side of the screen and all the tutorials should pop up, scroll down until you see the one labelled "Installing a CPU by CreepyBoboC5". Thanks for making it on the first page.

Also message me if something I typed is wrong, I will gladly fix it.

Low Tier Gaming Graphics Cards:
1: Click Me
2: Click Me
3: Click Me

Middle Tier Gaming Graphics Cards:
1: Click Me
2: Click Me
3: Click Me

High Tier Gaming Graphics Cards:
1: Click Me
2: Click Me
3: Click Me

Extreme Tier Gaming Graphics Cards:
1: Click Me
2: Click Me (This is the strongest graphics card you can get on the market)
3. Click Me (This is close to the performance of the R9 295X2 but buy this, it has a better Priceerformance)

Workstation Graphics Cards:

Coming Soon!
Sorry for the inconvenience!
(Its hard for me to choose between workstation cards, also it's been over a month so this will most likely never be implemented)

<edited out by moderator, personal opinions do not belong in tutorials>