Your video card is one of those components in your computer you want to both learn as much about it as possible and to learn how to remove the old one and install a new card quickly.Playing those awesome games will be that much more enjoyable with one of those muscle bound video cards boosting video performance to the max.

Having the most up to date video quality is without a doubt the number three upgrade consideration. Upgrading the Hard Drive and RAM Memory are in front of all others.

Learning to remove your system unit cover,locate your video card,removing the old card so you can install a faster one can be educational and make it fun in the process.

After choosing the video card that you know is compatible with your monitor,open the system unit after the system is turned off,unplugged, and all peripherals are disconnected.

You want to stop and remove any electrical static charge your yourself by touching a metal object.This reduces the chance of damaging any chips in the computer.

You may want to lay the system unit on its side for easier access to the empty expansion bays. Locate the empty AGP Slot to insert the video card and remove the cover plate at the rear of the case with a screwdriver.

Save the screw to secure the card later.Newer motherboards are now equipped with the PCI Express slot.Check your motherboard manual if you are in doubt as to which type of slot you have

Before removing the new card from its protective wrap,ground yourself to remove any and all electrical static charge from your body.Now you can carefully and firmly inserted the card into the Accelerated Graphics Port.

Aligned the card in the port and slowly but firmly pushed the card in the AGP Port.You may use a slight rocking back and forth motion to seat the card in the port.

Check to be sure it has been pushed all the way in the slot for a solid connection.Secure the card to the case with the screw you saved from the cover plate earlier.

Check and double check your installation process before replacing the cover onto the system unit case.With the cover replaced,reconnect peripherals and turn on the computer.

The operating system should detect the new video card and install the device driver software that will allow the card to talk to the computer.A cdrom should have come with the new card with the device drivers and other useful software.

And you should now be able to experience the ultimate in crisp,clear quality graphics on your monitor.Its that easy to install and setup your video card.

The new PCI Express technology comes with some other benefits as well. For one, the amount of trace routes on motherboards are reduced by the circuitry of motherboards. When using 4 routes instead of 32 for a basic connection, the motherboard manufacturerswill no doubt favor this technology.This greatly reduces the costs of producing motherboards in the long term.

PCI Express connectors are similar in appearance and connection method to 32-bit PCI slots. PCI Express 1X slots are about the size of current modem riser,close to 1" long.The X16 interface has 164-pins for graphics is very similar in appearance to the standard AGP port. The flexibility to adapt to PCI express devices of different bandwidths is built into the midrange X4 and X8 slots that we have seen.

The biggest impact that PCI Express has made on the desktop market is with the PCIe,the x16 graphics slot. Found in the latest Intel and AMD-based chipsets, This new technology has replaced AGP 8x as the platform of choice for graphics cards.You will want to understand the new PCI Express card as much as possible since it is the most recent video display technology.

When you purchase your next computer,forget the Advanced Graphics Port or the AGP card,be certain your new computer comes with the new PCI Express video card install.You will be glad you did especially if you love those new high resolution games they keep coming out with.

Copyright 2006 Otis Cooper