Particularly the more powerful ones, video cards are not inexpensive. As a result, people frequently buy them on the secondary market. And in situations like these, it’s crucial to evaluate the product’s functionality in multiple ways. In this content, we discuss them. 7 ways to check your video card on a PC
Check your monitor and PC for problems
If you purchased a graphics card but it isn’t working, start by inspecting the other parts of your computer.
Link the monitor to a different computer or laptop. Verify if everything is alright. You must take the monitor in for repair if it remains off when using another device. You might try using a different cable if you think there might be issues with the current one.
You must examine how the PC is operating. All is well if it powers on and functions. If not, there could be a number of causes. For instance, there may not be enough electricity if the power supply has failed. Consider using a more potent power source.
Also, the PC may not work due to a damaged motherboard, processor, or RAM.
If the PC and monitor are operating normally but the video card isn’t, take it out and put it on a different computer. Did it succeed? This indicates that the 3D accelerator is not the issue—rather, your computer is. You should inspect the video card if not.
Swollen capacitors are usually the reason why the video card does not function. Should even one become inflamed, you will need to see a workshop (or send the video card back to the vendor).
A virus or a Windows bug could also be the cause of the video card’s malfunction. It is advised to perform an antivirus scan on the system before reinstalling the operating system.
Check your video card in Device Manager
You must verify the video card in the device manager if the PC is operating normally but the visual card is not.
For this:
- Click on “Start” with the right mouse button;
- Select “Device Manager”;
- Go to “Video adapters”;
- Next, right-click on the video card and click on “Properties”;
- Update the drivers or, alternatively, remove the old ones and reinstall them;
- There you can also find out if the device is working normally or if there are any malfunctions.
Check your graphics card using GPU-Z
To check the performance of video cards, there is a special utility GPU-Z. It’s free. Here’s what to do;
- Download GPU-Z ;
- Let’s launch. If you see the name of your card, it means it is functioning;
- In Sensors you can view operating frequencies, temperatures, cooler speeds, and load levels;
- You can also check the card’s performance.
If the video card works, then you can start checking its performance.
Checking the video card in benchmarks
To check your video card, you should use benchmarks designed for stress tests.
The most successful of the free ones:
- Heaven Benchmark – a lightweight and simple benchmark that tests the GPU by scrolling through a landscape (a beautiful city with clouds floating in the sky);
- FurMark – the benchmark loads the GPU of a video card, heats it up and measures the maximum temperature to identify cooling problems (or lack thereof);
- OCCT is another benchmark that tests a video card under load.
If your video card heats up to 90 °C or greater in benchmarks, then there is something wrong with the cooling system. You could try blowing out the internal parts and clearing the dust from the fans. There is just one option if it doesn’t work: visit the workshop.
Measuring video card performance using UNIGINE – Superposition
This is a convenient and technologically advanced benchmark that tests the video card in conditions that are as close as possible to modern games.
You need to do this:
- Download UNIGINE – Superposition ;
- Launch the program;
- Select 1080p Extreme and click Run.
Wait for the results. Then compare them with the results of other users who have the same video card on the benchmark site.
How to test your graphics card in games using MSI Afterburner
You can test your video card directly in games using the MSI Afterburner and RivaTuner Statistics Server utilities. For this:
- Download the latest versions and install them;
- Launch MSI Afterburner and click on the gear icon;
- Go to “Monitoring”;
- Check the boxes next to “Temperature”, “Load”, “Core frequency”, “Memory frequency” of GPU, CPU and RAM, as well as “Frame rate”;
- Enable monitoring “Show in OED”, set its launch to a hot key;
- Save the settings;
- Launch the game and press the hotkey you set.
That’s it, now you will see all the information about your card during the game. You can evaluate the performance of the video card, check the temperature, operating frequency, and so on.
How to Check a Graphics Card Using Visual Inspection
Another way is to check the appearance of the video card and its integrity. Before purchasing a video card, carefully examine its appearance and check that there is no damage.
If the video card is already in your system unit and starts to get very hot or not work correctly, you need to remove it. For this:
- Disconnect the additional power cable and bend the lock on the motherboard;
- Check if there are any burnt microcircuits or swelling on it;
- If everything is fine, then you need to remove dust from the radiators and cooler, wipe the contacts with microfiber, check that the fan rotates freely and nothing interferes with it;
- You can also lubricate the cooler/coolers.
- 7 ways to check your video card on a PC
Also Read: How to enable hardware virtualization in Windows 10
Also Read: How to find out the serial number of a laptop Or PC
