This blog post is about how to install a graphics card in a computer.
Update 2019: This blog post is still relevant even though I wrote it over ten years ago! These days I don’t use AGP graphics cards, but PCI Express cards. It is often easy to spot the slot for a graphics card and if you’re struggling to identify which slot, I suggest you download a manual for your motherboard.
Warning: Make sure you check and read any valid warranty before proceeding. The computer I installed the card into was old and out of warranty. If you’re unsure what to do, even after reading the rest of this blog post, I suggest you seek help from an expert.
Graphics cards have hugely come down in price and are a good upgrade to consider if required. So I brought a new agp graphics card for my desktop computer via ebay. I know agp is old tech now, but it is the last planned upgrade for the computer and gives it a nice bit of oomph for a very cheap price.
However it left me with a spare agp graphics card that was previously in the computer…. so I decided to install it into my server that was using an on-board graphics chipset and had a spare agp slot.
Here are the steps I took:
1) Attached and put on my anti static wrist strap (below is a picture of the anti static strap and card). Anti static wrist straps are very cheap and a good purchase.
2) In the case you can see the agp slot (one at top with green border and looks different to pci express).
3) Removed a slot plate for the case and then inserted the graphics card carefully.
Also if you don’t want to install drivers via Microsoft, best visit the manufacturer / vendor site before you do the upgrade and place the drivers in a folder ready for when you turn the machine back on. The manufacturer / vendor will often have drivers and software that will improve performance and allow more configuration.