How to identify a video card in your computer?

We think that practically every beginning gamer in life had a need to determine a video card in his computer. After all, the requirements of modern games are such that they more closely resemble the ultimatum of hand-turners, but you need to know the type of this board before buying the game! It's unpleasant to learn about the need to update the hardware after buying the last game masterpiece ...

So how do you determine the characteristics of your equipment? Actually, it's quite simple. Click on the "Start" button, we find there tab "Control Panel", in which you need to find "Device Manager". Found? In the long list of devices there should be a line "Video adapters". We need her! Click on it with the left mouse button and in the opened list we see the name of your video adapter (or two if the motherboard has an integrated video core).

Almost all modern video cards immediately after installation are determined by the operating system and are reflected in this list. If there is no model in your list, and instead of it an exclamation or question mark is displayed , or something like "unknown device" is written, you will have to go the other way.

How to determine the video card in this case? First of all, you should put the necessary drivers for your hardware. Typically, the necessary software is provided on the disk along with the card itself. If there is no such disk, it's better to immediately go to the store where you bought the equipment. Most likely, there you will be able to help, providing everything you need.

In the case where you do not even know the manufacturer, you need to use utilities for diagnostics. Consider an example of using the application Everest. Install it (it's very simple), start and immediately look for the line "Windows device" in the lower left window. If found, click on it with the left mouse button and draw attention to the right window: there should be a line "video adapters". Click on it, and the program determines the type of your device. This is especially useful if you have an old agp-graphics card that the system can not determine.

Finally, if you can not find the diagnostic utility, you will have to disassemble the computer. Do not worry: you will not have to disassemble it until the last screw. It's enough just to remove the side cover and disconnect the video board. As a rule, it shows in large letters the manufacturer's logo, according to which it will not be difficult to determine the video card.

If it is so old that there is no marking on it, it will be necessary to carry it to the specialists of the service center. Perhaps, a miracle happened, and you still have documents for the computer you bought once? In this case, the required data must be there.

Note! If you use the operating system without the latest updates and diagnostic utilities of older versions, you will hardly be able to determine the video card correctly. The fact is that new models in the list of supported versions can not be physically physically, and therefore to hope for their recognition by the system is silly.