How Do I Upgrade My Video Card for Free?

Keeping your video card up-to-date requires new system drivers.

The video card of a computer system controls the video output signal, sending the information to a connected monitor. Most hardware on a computer requires some sort of driver, and the video card is no exception. When upgrading other hardware on a computer (such as RAM or processor) or installing a new operating system, you must upgrade the video card's driver. This is done free of cost.

Instructions

1. Determine the video card manufacturer. If you installed the video card yourself, this is printed on the user manual of the card. If the card came installed in the system, the manufacturer is the computer company itself.

2. Open the Internet browser and go to the manufacturer's website. Wait for the page to load, then choose "Support."

3. Click "Downloads" from the new page, then choose either "Desktop" or "Laptop." A new series of options appears on the screen. Select the actual computer you are using, then choose the operating system. A list of drivers appears on the screen.

4. Click the driver download for the video card, and the free driver downloads to the computer.

5. Double-click the driver download to load the installation wizard. Accept the license agreement when it loads onto the screen, then follow the prompts to completely install the free upgraded driver on the computer.

References

• Computer Hope: Computer Video Card Drivers
• Computer Hope: Video Adapter

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• NVIDIA: Video Card Support