Velocity ProMagix PCX Especificaciones descargar pdf (Pagina 107)

NOVEMBER 6, 2007 PC MAGAZINE 101

GTX and GTS products, as well as the 8600

and 8500 chipsets). ATI’s is its Radeon HD

2000 series (featuring the HD 2900 XT,

and the 2600 and 2400 products).

You’ve probably read that early DirectX

10 efforts by game developers have been

disappointing. Still, it’s only a matter of

time before the developers ﬁ gure out how

best to use the new APIs—and conse-

quently cease to support DirectX 9.

The bottom line is this: Even if your

DX9 graphics card has enough memory

and muscle to handle Windows Vista, it

won’t run tomorrow’s games. If your old

card can’t even run Vista and you’re going

to upgrade, you might as well jump to

current-generation, DirectX 10 hardware.

Both AMD and nVidia make a wide

range of cards at several price points. The

highest-end cards (such as the nVidia

GeForce 8800 GTX and the AMD ATI

Radeon HD 2900 XT) are aimed squarely

at gamers, whereas lower-end products

(from nVidia GeForce 8600 on down;

AMD ATI Radeon HD 2600 series and

below) are geared more for office and

casual home users.

The Right Slot

Depending on how old your computer

is, you might have to replace the entire

board—and even the CPU, memory, and

other components—just to replace the

graphics card.

That’s because physical and electronic

graphics card interfaces change every few

years. Until recently, the slot in which the

graphics card sits, with its electronic con-

nection to the motherboard, was called

the Accelerated Graphics Port, or AGP.

In late 2005 the industry switched over

to a new standard called PCI (Peripheral

Component Interconnect) Express x16.

And way back before the AGP slot existed,

graphics cards used standard PCI slots.

You’re not likely to ﬁ nd any DirectX 10

hardware for the AGP standard, much less

power connection, and place the card into

an antistatic bag. If you don’t have one

handy, lay the card ﬂ at on a clean surface

and later, when you’ve freed up the anti-

static bag that your new card came in, use it

to store your old one.

Installing the New Graphics Card

There may be two PCIe x16 slots on your

motherboard. If that’s the case, use the one

that held your old graphics card. If you’re

still not sure which one to use, consult

the motherboard’s documentation, which

should clearly identify one of them as the

primary slot. Find the PCI Express power-

supply lead (some current cards actually

require two of these) and plug it into the

socket on the card.

Next, line up the card’s gold contacts

with the slot on the motherboard and

insert the card. Some current graphics

cards are surprisingly big, so be careful not

to knock any other components or cables

loose inside the case.

Press down on the top edge of the card

until it’s ﬁ rmly seated in the PCI Express

x16 slot. The metal bracket on the back of

the card should be tight against the case.

Finally, using a screw (or two), secure the

card in place. Replace the side cover and

plug the monitor into the graphics card.

Boot up the operating system. Cancel

any Windows attempts to ﬁ nd new hard-

ware drivers, and open your favorite Web

browser. Head to www.nvidia.com or www

.ati.com to download the latest drivers for

your graphics chip. The drivers will be in

an executable program; run the program

after it’s fully downloaded.

In Vista, User Account Control will

again break in to be sure you want to install

the drivers. Simply follow the prompts

and the installation routine will take care

of everything. You’ll need to reboot when

the dri

ver installation is ﬁ nished. After the

computer boots back up, the graphics card

installation is complete.

for the vanilla PCI standard. This guide,

therefore, covers only the PCI Express x16

slot. Check your computer’s documenta-

tion, or that of its motherboard, to be sure

it can take a PCI Express x16 graphics card.

If not, you’re in for a far bigger upgrade

than this article outlines.

Removing the Old Graphics Card

Before you tear your computer’s case

open, you need to remove the software

programs—the drivers—that make your

old graphics card work with Windows.

The drivers usually appear in the Add or

Remove Programs interface (in XP) or

Programs and Features (in Vista). You can

open the pertinent interface through the

Control Panel.

Highlight the drivers and click the Unin-

stall button. You’ll probably encounter all

kinds of prompts asking if you really want

to uninstall them, and Windows Vista’s

User Account Control will kick in and

require your permission to let the uninstall

continue. If you are using a mother board

with integrated graphics, you will need to

disable them in the BIOS.

Your screen might change to a lower

resolution and color depth during or after

the uninstall process. When it’s done, the

computer will prompt you to reboot. Say

no! Instead, shut down the computer,

unplug the AC cord, open the case, and

prepare to remove the card physically.

Look for the card that corresponds

with the monitor cable on the rear of the

machine. That’s your computer’s graph-

ics card. Unplug the monitor cable, then

remove the screw or screws holding

the graphics card in place. Pop the card

upward, out of its slot. You might have to

disengage a plastic clip on the slot on the

motherboard, near the front of the card, to

release it fully.

When you’ve removed the card from

the case, unplug the power-supply cable

from the front of the card, if there is a

Bare electronic components on a circuit board are sus-

ceptible to all kinds of accidental damage. Handling your

graphics card safely and being very careful regarding static

electricity are of paramount importance.

Handle the card only by its edges, and by the metal

bracket on the rear. Be sure not to touch the gold contacts

that slide into the slot on the motherboard. The oils on your

ﬁ ngers can interfere with the electrical contact, which can

result in the card not working properly. Also, don’t touch the

chips! If you do, the small amount of static that can build up

in your body may discharge and permanently damage them.

ESD, or electrostatic discharge, is a silent killer of elec-

tronics. Here’s how to avoid it:

1. Before you touch any electronic parts, plant your feet.

2. Ground yourself by touching part of your computer’s

chassis.

3. Don’t move your feet while you work inside the com-

puter or handle the graphics card (or any other elec-

tronic parts).

4. If you do move your feet, plant them again and re-

ground yourself before you reach back into the case

or pick up more electronic parts.

You can also wear an antistatic bracelet that you clip to

grounded metal to keep static from building up in your body.

ESD and Safe Electronics Handling

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