How to Change a Video Card in a Toshiba Laptop
Most models of Toshiba laptop come from the factory with only minimal graphics processing power, as they are meant more for business applications. If you need more graphical processing power to play the latest computer game you may want to replace the laptop's video card with a new unit. To manually change out the video card in a Toshiba laptop you will need to almost completely disassemble the entire computer, as the video card is located underneath several other parts.
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Instructions
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Changing the Card
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1
Power off the Toshiba laptop and then close the screen's lid. Turn the entire unit completely over so that the bottom side of the case is visible. Hold down on the battery's release button and then slide the battery out of the case.
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2
Set the battery aside. Remove the screws at the center and right side of the case that hold the plastic covers over the RAM modules and hard drive. Remove the covers. Slide the hard drive out and set it aside. Lift the RAM modules up and remove them from the case.
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3
Take out the screws holding the plastic cover over the modem. Pull off the cover and then remove the modem and set it aside. Turn the entire Toshiba laptop over and then open up the screen lid.
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4
Push a flat object such as a screwdriver underneath the plastic strip above the keyboard. Wiggle the object up and down until the strip pops up. Set the strip aside and then remove the two screws at the top of the keyboard.
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5
Lift the keyboard off of the Toshiba laptop until you can see its motherboard cable. Disconnect the cable and then set the keyboard aside entirely. Pull out the screw holding the DVD drive in place at the top-right corner of the case.
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6
Slide the DVD drive out of the Toshiba laptop and set it aside. Locate the metal plate at the middle of the case and remove the screw holding it down. Pull off the metal plate and then remove the three screws along the edges of where the plate was located.
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7
Disconnect each of the motherboard cables that are visible underneath where the metal plate was located. Lift the entire plastic cover piece around the metal plate off of the case so that the motherboard is fully visible.
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8
Remove the screw holding the video card in place at the upper-left corner of the motherboard. Pull off the video card. Set the new video card in its place and replace the screw. Set the plastic cover piece back over the motherboard and the reconnect each of the cables you disconnected earlier.
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9
Put the DVD drive back in and reconnect the screw. Reassemble the remaining parts of the Toshiba laptop and then put the battery back in.
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10
Open up the screen lid and then insert the driver installation disc that came with the video card into the DVD drive. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the video card software.
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Tips & Warnings
The screws on the bottom of the Toshiba laptop's case are a different size than the screws inside the case. You may want to keep two different containers nearby to keep the screws separated as you remove parts to reach the video card.
It's important that you ground yourself before opening up the Toshiba laptop case as the static electricity in your body can ruin the computer. To ground yourself, you only need to briefly grab onto any metal object connected to the floor.
References
- Photo Credit Toshiba
