If you want more performance so you can play the latest games at high resolutions and maximum quality, y'all demand a decent graphics card. Here we explain how to know if a graphics card volition fit in your PC and if it will be uniform.

It'south crucial to get this stage right, as without information technology you'll be left with a powerful graphics card that doesn't work properly with your PC. In this article, we'll show you how to make sure a graphics card is both compatible with your deviceandvolition physically fit inside your case.

One time that'southward sorted, the process of really installing it is relatively simple past comparing.

See also: How to add a graphics card to your laptop

A groundwork to PC graphics

Many PCs rely on then-chosen 'integrated' graphics which is either a chip on the motherboard or one congenital into the CPU itself. Other PCs accept a 'defended' graphics card, which plugs into an expansion slot on the motherboard.

You can usually tell which type your PC uses past the location of the port you utilise to connect your monitor. If it's in amidst the other ports, such as USB and Ethernet, then it'southward integrated graphics. If the port is separate to the others, and at that place's more than than i port, such as a pair of DVI outputs, HDMI or DisplayPort, it's probably a defended graphics bill of fare.

Whichever type it is, yous'll demand both an expansion slot – called PCI Express – and a respective slot in the case – with a removable backplate where the connections will sit down in order to fit a defended graphics card.

How to know if a graphics card is compatible: Find the PCI Express slot

On many PCs, there will be a few expansion slots on the motherboard. Typically they will all exist PCI Express, just for a graphics carte you need a PCI Express x16 slot. There are three versions of this slot, merely they're backwards compatible, so a modern PCI Express 3.0 graphics menu will work in a motherboard with a PCI Express x16 2.0 slot.

This motherboard has two PCI Express x16 slots. It's most common to use the upper-almost one for a graphics menu, only if you're fitting ii cards in an nVidia SLI or AMD Crossfire setup, you'll need both. Check which standard your motherboard supports before investing in a pair of cards, though.

How to know if a graphics card is compatible

How to know if a graphics card is compatible: length and height


More powerful graphics cards tend to have large fans to keep them cool, and this makes them twice as thick as a 'single-elevation' card. The way well-nigh PCs are built means that the fan assembly will exist underneath the card rather than on top of it, and so you'll demand an unused slot – and backplate – straight underneath the PCI Express x16 slot.

Plus, you need to measure the distance from the backplate to any components which would block a long graphics card at the front of your case. Don't forget that some cards have their power sockets on their dorsum border rather than the side, and so you'll need to add about 30-40mm to the length of your chosen card to guarantee it will fit.

If yous're unsure how long a card is, ask the manufacturer, seller or try our own forums to discover someone who owns that bill of fare already and can confirm how big it is.

How to know if a graphics card is compatible: power requirements

Even if you lot have PCI Limited x16 slot and plenty of room, you'll need extra power for most graphics cards. Your power supply is likely to have PCI-E ability connectors, just they may be bundled upwardly and tied out of the way if no graphics menu is currently fitted.

These connectors are usually black, marked as PCI-Due east and accept six pins in a 3x2 arrangement.

If your PSU doesn't have these, you can buy adaptors which connect to the standard four-pin power or SATA connectors. Be careful with graphics cards that crave ii PCI Limited ability connectors as each of these should exist connected to a dissimilar 12v rail of the power supply. On well-nigh PSUs this means connecting each of the ii adaptors to a dissimilar 'daisy concatenation' of power connectors, and not to the same concatenation.

How to know if a graphics card is compatible

Finally, make sure your ability supply has enough headroom above what the existing components are cartoon to power your new graphics carte du jour.

Information technology can be tricky to work out if yours does, but a good rule of pollex is that high-terminate graphics cards will require at to the lowest degree a 600W PSU, if not more than. It's wrong to assume that a PSU can output its maximum ability rating continuously, and you're certain to run into problems if your components are drawing more than around 80 percentage of the PSU's top rating.

Once more, it'south fairly easy to check how much power a graphics card draws from its specifications by searching online.

Considering a purchase? Check out our circular-up of the best graphics cards.

To ensure you get the best cost, information technology'due south also worth checking out the best graphics carte deals.