A new video card can greatly improve your computer’s ability to play games and, of course, videos, but installing a video card isn’t always an easy process. There’s a lot that can go wrong, especially if the card is being installed on an older computer.
If your video card doesn’t seem to be working properly after an installation or if you’ve noticed other major computer issues after plugging the card in, here’s a few quick tips for figuring out what’s wrong.
Power Problems – One of the most perplexing problems that can be caused by a video card installation is a power failure. Your computer might not turn on at all or may shut down shortly after startup. Sometimes, taking the video card out isn’t enough to fix the problem; you’ll actually have to leave the computer unplugged for a while before you can get it to start up again.
Check your computer’s power supply to see its wattage. If it’s 400W or so, there’s a good chance that you need an upgrade. This is especially true if you’ve got a ton of other hardware. Installing a new power supply isn’t tough, but it’s complex, so if you take this task on by yourself, make sure that you take pictures of how your old power supply was hooked into your computer before you unplug anything. Ground yourself before you touch any of the electronics and make sure that the power supply is unplugged-it sounds obvious, but anyone can make a simple mistake.
Bad Video And Poor Resolution – Resolution problems are often cause by an improper installation. Make sure to use the drivers included with your video card and check to see that your operating system is supported (for example, some older video cards might support Windows XP but not Windows 7).
After you install drivers, you’ll need to restart your operating system. In Windows, you may also need to change your screen resolution and color settings before things look normal again.
Hardware Conflicts – The most common computer problems related to video card installation are hardware conflicts. Your computer’s sound might stop working or the video card might not work as expected. Thanks to Windows 7 and newer service packs of Windows XP, there are far fewer driver conflicts than ever before, but you still might experience the occasional issue.
To fix driver conflicts, you’ll need to make sure that you’re using the latest versions of the drivers for all of your hardware. You can find the latest versions on the hardware manufacturers’ website. You might also consider a quick search engine query for common hardware conflicts with your video card if you’re not sure what the problem is.
Have any other problems installing your video card? Post your thoughts below.