▷ How to know which graphics card my motherboard supports?

In this article we are going to see how to know which graphics card my motherboard supports. Installing a new graphics card is a surprisingly simple process, I have done is one of the simplest updates that can be done on a PC next to RAM or hard drive.

The tricky part is making sure that the new card is compatible with current hardware, and also making sure it fits inside the slot on the motherboard and inside the case.

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What graphics card does my motherboard support? Learn to find out

If you want more performance to be able to play the latest games with high resolutions and maximum quality, you need a powerful and new generation graphics card. We explain how to know if a graphics card will be compatible with your motherboard.

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Many PCs rely on so-called integrated graphics, which are either a chip on the motherboard or one built into the CPU itself. Other PCs have a dedicated graphics card, which connects to a PCI Express expansion slot on the motherboard. Generally, you can find out what type of graphics card your PC uses based on the location of the port you use to connect the monitor. If you are between the other ports, like USB and Ethernet, then the graphics are integrated. If the port is separate from the others, and there is more than one port, such as a pair of DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort outputs, it is probably a dedicated graphics card.

You need a PCI Express x16 slot

To install a new dedicated graphics card you will need an expansion slot, called PCI Express, free on your motherboard. On many PCs, there will be multiple expansion slots on the motherboard. Normally they will all be PCI Express, but for a graphics card you need a PCI Express x16 slot. There are three generations of this slot, but they are backward compatible, so a modern PCI Express 3.0 graphics card will work on a motherboard with a PCI Express x16 2.0 slot. In the case that the motherboard has two PCI Express x16 slots, it's more common to use the one above for a graphics card, but if you are adjusting two cards in a SLI or Crossfire configuration, you will need both.

Many motherboards also have PCI Express x4 or PCI Express x1 slots, these are much smaller than the PCI Express x16, so it will not be possible to install a graphics card in one of these slots. You must make sure that your motherboard has a PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot, that is, a full length slot. Another detail to take into account is that if your motherboard has a PCI Express x16 slot, you can mount both AMD and Nvidia graphics cards indistinctly.

Graphics card length and height, two crucial parameters

More powerful graphics cards tend to have large fans to keep them cool, and this makes them twice as thick as a single-height card. The way most PCs are built means that the fan assembly will be below the card rather than on top of it, so you'll need an unused slot directly below the PCI Express x16 slot you're going to use.

Also, you should measure the distance from the back plate to any component that blocks a long graphics card on the front of the box. Don't forget that some cards have their sockets on the back edge instead of the side, so you'll need to add approximately 30-40mm to the chosen card length to ensure it fits. If you are unsure of the size of a card, ask the manufacturer, vendor, or our own forums to find someone who already owns that card, and can confirm how big it is.

The power supply is also important

Even if you have a PCI Express x16 slot and plenty of space, you will need a lot of electrical power for most graphics cards, especially high-end ones. Your power supply is likely to have PCI-E power connectors, but they may be bundled and tied together if no graphics card is currently installed.

These connectors are typically black, marked PCI-E, and have six or eight pins in a 6-pin or 8-pin arrangement. If your PSU doesn't have these, you can buy adapters that plug into the standard four-pin or SATA power connectors. Be careful with graphics cards that require two PCI Express power connectors as each must connect to a different 12v rail from the power supply. In most power supply units, this means connecting each of the two adapters to a different chain of power connectors, and not to the same chain.

It can be difficult to calculate, but a good rule of thumb is that high-end graphics cards will require at least a 600W power supply. It is incorrect to assume that a power supply can generate its maximum power continuously. Finally, make sure the power supply has enough space, above what the existing components are taking up, to power your new graphics card.

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