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Build Your Own PC: Video and Sound Adapter Cards

Last updated on 20 July 2007

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This article consists of six pages. You can access the other five pages by clicking the relevant hyperlink below.

Step 5

The Expansion Cards and

Peripheral Devices

This set of pages is devoted to the following adapter cards and peripheral devices. Click the relevant heading to go to information on that subject.

Video/Graphics and Sound Cards

Visit the Video & Graphics section of this site for some general information on video/graphics cards.

You have to take care to make sure that the video/graphics card of your choice is fully compatible with your PC's motherboard and operating system, otherwise it might not function, might only work as an old-style PCI video card, or might only function in 2D mode, and crash when working in 3D mode.

To install an expansion card into a motherboard that has been installed in the PC's case, all you have to do is use a Philips screwdriver to remove the single screw or clip that screws/clips the metal cover (blanking plate) over the outlet of the PCI or AGP or PCI Express (PCI-E) slot that you want to use, and insert the card in the relevant slot so that it fills the space left by the cover - always taking care not to use too much force. Note that some PC cases use both a screw and a clip to secure the blanking plate in place.

You must fit an expansion card in its correct slot. Installing an expansion card in the wrong slot could make the expansion card or even the computer itself unusable unless the card or motherboard is replaced.

The image below shows the slot arrangement on a typical motherboard.

Note that new motherboards do not have any ISA slots, because ISA adapter cards are no longer being manufactured. Also note that motherboards are using their own colour schemes for the slots instead of the standard black (ISA), white (PCI), and brown (AGP) colours. They can be any colour.

Motherboards: The new x16 PCI Express slots

The latest video/graphics standard called PCI Express has almost replaced its forerunner, the AGP standard. At the time of writing this (March 2007), new AGP graphics cards were still available.

The AGP standard was purely a graphics standard, so the AGP slot can only be used by a graphics card. To accommodate the new PCI Express standard, the AGP slot's position on the motherboard, shown in the diagram above, is replaced by a PCI Express x16 slot.

The image shown above is of an MSI K8N Diamond Plus Socket 939 motherboard with two x16 SLI PCI Express graphics slots for dual graphics cards and AMD Athlon 64 and 64 FX processors.

There are two standard PCI slots - the orange slot and the white slot of the same length next to it on the far top left side of the board. The PCI Express slots are two long x16 slots (the longest slots on the board) for two graphics cards in SLI mode, one yellow x4 slot and two short white x1 slots for other PCI Express devices, such as a sound card, joystick, dial-up modem, etc., which have not yet appeared on the market.

Click here! to go directly to the information about the new PCI Express standard on the Video and Graphics section of this site. Use your browser's Back button to return to this point on this page.

The User Installation Manual

If you purchase a retail boxed graphics card or sound card it will come with an user installation manual that shows how all of the features of the card are used. If you purchased an Original Equipment Manufacturer - OEM - video or sound card that is supported by the vendor instead of the manufacturer, you will probably have to download the manual, and perhaps even the device-driver executable file from the manufacturer's website.

How to install a video/graphics card or sound card

Note well that you should touch the case to remove any static electricity from your body before you handle electronic components. The computer should be plugged into the wall socket with its power turned off so that the case is earthed.

Installing a PCI (redundant technology), AGP (outgoing technology), or PCI Express video/graphics card (current technology) is merely a matter of opening the case and removing the screw/clip that screws/clips the metal cover (blanking plate over the slot's outlet at the back of the case, and then inserting the card in its slot so that its face plate replaces the metal cover and shows at the back of the case. Note that some PC cases use both a screw and a clip to secure the blanking plate in place.

Just make sure that the card is inserted all the way into the slot and that it is not touching the motherboard.

Note that there are occasions when screwing the card in too tightly raises its end out of the slot and causes an error that can render the computer unbootable.

Note that motherboards can use their own colour schemes for the slots instead of the standard black (ISA), white (PCI), and brown (AGP) colours.

If you installed an AGP graphics card, even if you were sure that it was properly seated in its slot, it still may not be properly seated. Remove the AGP card and reinstall it, making sure that it completely seated.

If the motherboard has an AGP retention mechanism on its AGP slot, which most motherboard's don't have, it keeps the card in place, so make sure that the notch on the AGP card fully engages the mechanism. One of the most common reasons for a loose AGP card is that the screw used to secure it to the case may lift the card partially out of its slot. This problem is rare with high-quality cases and AGP cards, but quite common with cheap components. There are different types of retention mechanism. To remove the card means having to disengage the mechanism, which can sometimes be difficult to do. The motherboard's user manual, a copy of which should be available as a PDF document from its manufacturer's site, should provide illustrated information on how to install a graphics card if a retention mechanism is employed.

A source of well illustrated motherboard manuals is the MSI website. Just pick a motherboard and download its user manual.

Most motherboard manuals provide drawings or images showing how to install cards and RAM memory in the motherboard. There are also hundreds or thousands of websites that provide that information. If you need to see what is on offer just enter a phrase like "How to install a video card", or "Installing a video card", or "Install a video card", or "Video card installation", in the Google search box at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled).

When installing components, be patient at all costs, and never force any component into place. Always use your common sense to determine the spacing of the components. For example, if you are installing a graphics card that has its own cooling unit fitted to the main chip, if possible, don't smother it by installing it near or in between other adapter cards. Give it space to expel the heat it generates. The build up of heat is one of the most common causes of system failures.

Note that many motherboards have the AGP slot positioned so closely to the DIMM RAM slots that the RAM modules have to be removed before the video card can be installed, and the video card has to be removed in order to remove or add RAM modules. It is not unusual to hear that someone has tried to install an nVidia GeForce graphics card and the installed RAM modules have knocked off some of the card's protruding capacitors, thereby rendering it useless. This situation would not have been a problem if the obvious and necessary installation procedures were taken.

Furthermore, very often the first PCI slot on the motherboard is positioned too close to the AGP/PCI Express slot. If an adapter card is installed in that PCI slot, it would deprive the AGP/PCI Express graphics card of air, and might cause it to function abnormally, or to be damaged by overheating.

Some motherboard reviews provide useful information of that kind.

Personally, I would not purchase a motherboard until I had read all of the reviews of it on the Internet or in computer magazines.

If you still require more information on how to install a video/graphics card and its drivers, visit this illustrated series of pages called:

How to install a video card -

http://www.motherboards.org/articlesd/how-to-guides/1168_1.html

on the Motherboard Homeworld site.

The images that are provided to illustrate the manual installation of a graphics card's drivers are Windows XP screenshots, but the procedure is much the same for Windows Vista and Windows 95/98/Me systems.

You shouldn't need to install the drivers manually in Windows 95/98/Me/XP, or in Windows Vista. If PnP OS (plug-and-play operating system) is enabled in the BIOS setup program, those versions of Windows will automatically detect the card, and you will have the option to allow it to install the driver it has in its database, or select to do so from a CD/DVD, or from a download folder containing the latest downloaded driver file.

Note well that most new motherboards now only provide the device drivers for the versions of Windows that Microsoft still supports, which are Windows XP and Windows Vista). If you install a graphics or sound card in computers running a version of Windows, such as Windows 98, that the manufacturer does not provide drivers for, it will use its standard VGA driver that only supports a screen resolution of 640x480 pixels.

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Dual video card technology

It has recently become possible install two PCI Express video cards on a single motherboard. nVidia calls its dual-card technology SLI, which stands for Scalable Link Interface. ATI calls its dual-card technology CrossFire.

Some PCI Express video cards require to be connected to the power supply unit (PSU) via a special PCI Express power connector. If you use two such cards, you need a power supply unit (PSU) with two such power connectors - one for each card. An excellent example is the Akasa PowerPlus 550W unit. (Akasa also make excellent power suppy units. You can visit the company's website at http://www.akasa.com.tw/.

You can enter the make and model enclosed within double quotation marks in the Google search box at the top of this page (with it Web radio button enabled) to locate reviews and vendors.

The two nVidia SLI cards have to be installed by connecting a bridge between them. If you need to know how this is accomplished, the illustrated user manual for the Socket 939 MS-7100 (aka K8N Neo4 Platinum/SLI) motherboard made by MSI explains and shows how two such cards are installed on it.

Click here! to go to information on this site on PCI Express and dual-card technology.

A problem installing adapter cards in a Windows XP system

Problem

I have purchased a new motherboard and installed it in my Windows XP system; successfully for the most part, but whenever I try to install a sound card or network card, and then boot the system I get the message, "An error has occurred during the installation of this device. The data is invalid." For some reason, I have not been able to install an AGP video card, but I have been able to install an old PCI video card. I have also tried unsuccessfully to install two different makes of network and sound card. The other measures I have taken to rectify the problem are: - reflashed the BIOS with the latest update, and tried replacing Windows XP with its forerunner, Windows 2000. Because the same error occurs with both versions of Windows, I suspect that the problem has to be hardware-related.

A possible solution

The usual cause of this problem in Windows 2000 / XP systems is Registry keys that are set as read-only.

From the Start menu, click Run and enter regedit to run the Registry Editor. Open the following - Keys => HKey_Local_machine => System => CurrentControlSet => Enum => PCI.

You will see several keys in this form - Ven_xxxx - where xxxx represents a string such as - 1102&Dev_004&Subsys_00011103&Rev_04.

In each of these folders there is another folder that has a long numerical name. Open each of these folders, and look for the DeviceDesc entry that matches the type of hardware that you are trying unsuccessfully to install. Use the right mouse button to click on the Ven_xxxx entry for that device, and click Permissions. If it is set to read-only, then that is the cause of the problem. To rectify it, change it to Allow Full Control.

More installation information...

Often the power plugs are a devil to remove from drives, and adapter cards (especially old ISA cards) can be a devil to install. Sometimes the card will slip into the slot, most PCI cards do, but sometimes you will have to apply quite a bit of pressure. If the card won't go in, be patient and keep trying, but never get angry and try too much force, because you could crack the motherboard or damage the edge connector on the card.

If you feel the motherboard bending, hold the edge with one hand while doing the inserting with the other hand. If the motherboard is cracked it will render the computer useless until it is replaced. An ISA card (redundant technology) will fit in a long black ISA slot, which most new motherboards no longer have. A PCI card fits into one of the shorter slots that are usually white. Try not to use the PCI slot next to the x16 PCI Express slot, or the even shorter brown AGP slot, which is used for AGP video cards only. (Note that most motherboards only have PCI Express slots or an AGP slot, not both.) Remember that these slots can now be of any colour on recent motherboards.

If the motherboard you have chosen or purchased does not have a video card (graphics accelerator), sound card, and modem built into it, you will have to choose which cards and which modem to buy, and where to buy them. You could ask the advice of the staff at a large or small retail computer vendor, or select from a catalogue in a PC magazine, or website, and buy by mail order.

If your sound and video requirements only extend to using applications and accessing the Internet, buying an ATX case and motherboard (that can run your choice of processor) with inbuilt video and sound chips makes good sense. You will save money, and when you want to upgrade the system all you have to do is buy another motherboard with inbuilt sound and video, add a new processor and RAM, and you will have a new system.

In my experience, the staff at most computer stores are not very knowledgeable or helpful. Working on a commission basis, they will usually try to sell you the most expensive components. Or they will sell you exactly what you ask for, even if you could make a better or more economical purchase.

If you want to install a sound card to play audio CDs, to accompany DVD movies, or MPEG/AVI video files, or to listen to websites with sound content, etc., almost any new sound card, even ones costing between £15 and £20 will suffice.

But if you want to use the sound card for recording and editing MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files, etc., and you want full surround sound for heavy-duty PC gaming, etc., you should purchase an expensive sound card that will do what you require of it.

The video and sound cards, or motherboard (if the sound and video chips are built into it) will come with the CDs containing the software device drivers, and the installation instructions. If your PC's operating system (usually a version of Windows) has the correct drivers in its library, it will load them automatically. You can of course download driver updates from the web and install them (usually just by clicking on an .exe file) any time you like.

Click Monitors to read the information on LCD/CRT monitors on this site.

You will of course have to purchase a set of speakers in order to be able to hear the sound. The price of these can vary from £15 for a basic set of speakers that come with an external power supply, to hundreds of pounds for a full surround-sound speaker system.

On a basic sound card that is connected to two speakers, they are usually plugged into the sound card's Speakers Out or Line Out socket, as shown in the motherboard's manual if the sound chip is built into the motherboard, or as in the sound card's manual for an ISA or PCI card.

But if you have a fancy sound card card that is capable of being connected to many speakers to produce a surround-sound effect, you will have to read its manual to find out how to connect the different speakers. You don't have to use all of the speaker ports. If you have purchased a set of two speakers, you can plug them in using the Front Speakers or Back Speakers port. But if you only want to use two speakers, you should purchase a basic sound card that has only a Line Out port for them.

Most speakers will have their own power supply unit, but they should produce sound at a low volume if they are left to draw power from being attached to the sound card. Most speaker systems require their own power supply unit to be plugged into the wall for optimal performance, and most of them have to be turned on by pushing a switch somewhere on one of the speakers.

I can remember helping someone with a sound problem. He had everything connected properly. The sound card was installed properly, the Windows Device Manager showed that the drivers had been installed properly under the Sound, video and game controllers menu item, the sound cable to the CD-ROM drive was properly connected, the two speakers were plugged into the Line Out socket on the sound card, but the sound that issued from the speakers was barely audible with the volume control in the system tray (in the bottom right hand corner of the screen) set at the maximum.

He was threatening to take the system back to the dealer when I said, "But you haven't switched the speakers on." I pushed the On button on one of the speakers, and the sound came out full ball, loud and clear. He had assumed the speakers were like the ones he had on his stereo music centre that only required to be plugged in.

For more information on setting up a sound system, try using a search phrase such as: computer + "sound system" + setup + guide (as is) in the Google search box provided at the top of this page (with its Web radio button enabled).

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