How to recognize your graphics card – the path to complete control over computers
For every person working on a PC, sooner or later there comes a moment when you need to find out the model of your video card. And it doesn’t matter why exactly this was needed – reinstalling Windows, a driver error, or just a desire to update the version – in any case, in order to install the driver, you need to know which video card is installed. And by itself the question arises – how to recognize your video card? The easiest way is to look at the box. But who keeps the boxes these days? Yes, and computers are most often purchased in the form of ready-made assemblies, where there is simply no box from the video card. There are several ways to find out the model of a video card.
Viewing the name in the "Device Manager"
This option will only help if you want to update already installed drivers. In order to view the model of your video card, go to "Control Panel" -u003e "System" -u003e "Device Manager". You will see a list of all installed devices, including the video card, which is located in the "Video adapters" section. Click on this box and you will see the name of the video card installed in the system. After that, you can go to the manufacturer’s website and download the latest driver for your device.
Search by equipment id
First of all, you need to go to the "Device Manager". Only this time you will need the Unknown Devices section. You will easily notice them – they are displayed in the list as an expanded section (while the others are all in a collapsed mode) and are indicated by icons in the form of a question mark.
Next, open the properties of unknown hardware (right-click – properties). You will need the Details tab. This place contains all the available information about the device (in a form that is not the most understandable for the average user). You will need the "hardware id". There are lines that are the identifier of the equipment (for example: PCIVEN_1002&DEV_6738&CC_0300).
Having received the id of the equipment, it remains only to “decrypt" it. This will help you services that are available in large numbers on the network. Just enter the query "search for drivers by id" in any search engine convenient for you and you will see a whole list of similar services. You can download the drivers directly from this site, but a better solution would be to use these services solely to identify the hardware. Further on the old program – the manufacturer’s website, the latest versions of the drivers.
Note. In some cases (especially on modern operating systems), the video card may be referred to as "Standard Video Graphics Adapter". In this case, you can find it in the "video adapters" section of the device manager (see above). And then everything is the same as in the case of unknown equipment. This option is suitable for those who want to know how to recognize their video card on Windows 7 or Windows 8.
Using Third Party Applications
This method is perfect for those who do not want to manually "poking around" in the device data and prefer to use third-party applications. The easiest way is if you know the manufacturer of the board, but do not know the model. In this case, you can download a special application from the manufacturer’s website. Most often, it is located in the same section of the site where the model is selected, and contains the phrase “Auto Detect” or something similar in the name. These applications weigh quite a bit, and their functionality is simply outrageous – they scan your system, determine the version of the video adapter, select the appropriate driver for the latest model, download it and initialize the installation. You only need a couple of mouse clicks – the system is automated to the limit.
The second type of applications are special information programs that display all information about the system. Including the video card. The most popular application of this type is AIDA 64. Just go to the section dedicated to video adapters and you will find out not only the model of the video card, but also the official website of the company, the relevance of your driver version and links to download the latest versions.
Option for "screwdriver lovers"
Attention! Use this option only if your computer is out of warranty.
In extreme cases, you can find out the manufacturer of the video card and download the application to determine the model from the manufacturer’s website. To remove the video adapter, unscrew the fixing bolts on the right rear side of the system unit. Next, unscrew the bolt that secures the video card (or several bolts), and wring out the lever that secures it to the motherboard. Now you can remove the device and familiarize yourself with all the markers on it. The installation process is carried out in reverse order.