- Synthmilk
- |
- Exalted Mythic Member
Get Marathon Here
Get Marathon 2 and Infinity Here
Typically your standard cusome case will have one side that obviously is screwed onto the rest of the case, just look for seams and use your best judement, the screws holding it on should be around the edges of the removable plate.
But before you do all this, unplug everything, starting with the power supply cable. Bring your PC to a large flat table where you have some room to work, then touch the metal part at the back of the computer to neutralize any static electricity that may have built up on you or the metal components in the machine. Find the screws that keep the removable side plate attached, and remove them, most sideplates have tabs or grooves that you must slid it out of after removing the screws.
Now I reccomend you clean your computer, my method is crude, but it's a surefire way to get it done quickly. You will need a vacume cleaner that has a flexible hose and a reverse feature. If you don't have one then your going to have to buy yourself a few cans of compressed air. In either case, you may also want to get a micro-thread cloth, electronics or hardware stores should have them.
Take your computer outside, and with the case open, have at it with the vacume cleaner on reverse (so that it is blowing air) or the compressed air cans. Make sure you stand back at first if your using the vacume cleaner. Blow air into every part of your case, no exceptions. If you got youself the micro-thread cloth then gently (and I mean GENTLY) use it to remove any dust that you see on the motherboard, fans, and PCI cards, you will want to remove the PCI cards at this point, but if you don't feel comfortable doing that thats ok, if you do remove them just make sure to put them back in the exact same slot that they came out of. Clean off the contacts on the cards with air or the cloth, and maybe blow air into the plugs themselves as well.
Replace everything but your graphics card (assuming you have one), and bring the computer back inside. Now, you saw that video, so I can tell you that an AGP slot was the one he was pointing to all along, it looks like a smaller PCI slot that is out of line with the rest, and is always above them as well. I strongly reccomend you go either AGP or PCIe, as generic PCI cards never perform as well on machines that have AGP or PCIe slots available. Just some advice.
Now, when handeling these cards, never touch the circuits or components, always hold by the plastic edges. To install your new card, simply remove the small plate that covers the place on the rear of the machine that lines up with the slot you want to put the card. Line the card up, and gently push it in until the card has secured in the AGP retainer clip, or the contacts are not visible outside of the plug on the motherboard. It may take a bit of force to get it in all the way, so once you have it lined up and partly in, don't worry about pushing too hard.
You can leave the sideplate off the machine if you want, it's up to you. Plug it all back up, and turn on your machine. It will likely default to a really low resolution and colour scheme, but don't worry, this is ok. The "Found New Hardware" wizard may start up, if it does, you can either follow the directions, or exit it and put in the driver CD that came with the card and install it through it's own installer. Restart your computer, it should go to whatever your existing resolution setting was, if it doesn't just change them back yourself, if you can't, for example if you go to the settings and there is only one screen resolution, that means the drivers didn't install right or load right, so try restarting your machine again, if it still doesn't work, then there may be an issue between the drivers of the new card, and your motherboard/operating system.
I reccomend that if you have an existing card, made by the same people who made your new card (either ATI or nVidia) then turn off your comp, put that old card back in, and download the latest drivers they have for your operating system, and also older drivers, just in case. Also download the latest DirectX drivers and an older DirectX driver version.
Install the new drivers on your old card, if you get the same issue that you had with your new card, it's the drivers compatibility with your operating system/motherboard that is the problem. Reinstall the old drivers. Your going to have to get a new motherboard or a new computer all together if this is the case.
If you have no problems, then awsome, and happy playing! If you have an old card then please tell me what it is, I am looking for a grizzled replacement for my supposed "new" one, that just so happens to run worse than my old one due to the fact my motherboard can't handle the new card's speed. Unless your old card is fried of course, I have one of those already, heh heh heh...