When purchasing a ready-made system, we often cannot figure out which components are installed inside. Of course, all this information comes with the computer, but is it true? Therefore, it is better to know the models of all system components.
Users want to figure out how to find out what a video card is worth. Knowing such information, it will be easier to install or update drivers, think about upgrading your computer.
Causes
Why, then, may you need to know which video card is on the computer? It is part of the system and is responsible for the image on the screen. This means that the video card is responsible for resolution, playing videos, computer games, etc.
If you did not initially build your own system, but already bought a finished PC, then in some cases you may not even know which video card is on the computer. There are a number of reasons why you might need information about your graphics adapter:
- You may have installed a new computer game, but the video card cannot handle it. As a result, the promised graphics quality cannot be ensured. In this case, you may need an adapter model in order to check compatibility.
- Sometimes on the monitor, for no good reason, stripes of different widths appear. In this case, you definitely need to understand where to see what the video card is in the system in order to check its serviceability. In most cases, it is adapter errors that cause the screen to display incorrectly.
- But not only stripes can become a problem when displaying a picture on the monitor. If the drivers have not been updated for a long time, the screen may crash and display the image incorrectly. Therefore, you need to find out the model of the video card and update its drivers.
- Those who want to build or upgrade the system themselves want to know the model of the graphics adapter. In this case, you will need to deal with the issue of module compatibility.
Perhaps someone wants to understand how to find out what a video card is for the sake of interest. In any case, the information will not be superfluous.
Inspection
On the one hand, this method is really the easiest, on the other hand, if you are poorly versed in the technical part of the system, it may not help at all.
Naturally, the easiest way to visually inspect the motherboard and all the parts that are on it. To do this, just unplug the computer from the network, remove the side panel and look at the details inside the system.
But not always, and not on all computers, this is so simple. Firstly, the computer may be under warranty, which means you cannot get or disconnect any parts, otherwise you will lose free repair or replacement of devices.
Secondly, if you are really poorly versed in technology, then after you turn off everything, you may not remember how everything was connected. And if you suddenly install one of the parts in the wrong place, the board may fail, and all parts of the computer will burn out.
Thirdly, it can be quite difficult to get to the video card on the board, and even more so to its internal markings. Many manufacturers now equip adapters with a plastic casing, which covers the motherboard of the video card.
Mindfulness
Many people want to understand how to determine which video card is in a computer or laptop. If you understand in advance that visual inspection is not your way, try to be careful and inspect the device. A device purchased not so long ago should contain documentation. It contains all the information about the contents of the system.
In addition, if you have a laptop, then on the panel under the keyboard the manufacturer often places branded stickers indicating the processor models, the video card and the cooling system features. Therefore, even such details can be useful in this matter.
System
If the specification has long been lost, and the stickers on the panel have come unstuck, how to determine which video card is on the laptop? It is possible in a systematic way. The option can be applied to the computer.
The most popular method for identifying a graphics adapter is to view the “Device Manager”. This option is suitable in the case of outdated Windows XP, and with newer operating systems. "Device Manager" is in each of these operating systems.
There are several ways to get to it:
- Use the key combination Win + R. In this case, Win can be denoted by letters or by the OS logo. After that, a command line will appear, in which you need to enter devmgmt.msc.
- You can access Device Manager from the My Computer dialog box. To do this, click on the shortcut of the same name, then click RMB on the empty area of the dialog box and select the “Properties” line. On the left is the "Device Manager" section.
To figure out how to find out what a video card is worth, you need to carefully review the entire list of devices. Here are all the parts connected to the system. You need to click on the "Video Adapter" section, and graphic adapters will appear in the list below.
Usually, two models can be indicated here. One of them refers to the internal, and the second - the external graphics card. The internal adapter is built into the processor of the system, and therefore we do not need it.
The external graphics card may be from NVIDIA or Radeon manufacturers. If the reinstallation of Windows was correct, and the system was able to quickly install "firewood" on the video card, then in this section you will immediately know its model.
But it can happen that in the column “Video adapter” the line “Standard VGA graphics adapter” will be indicated. By this symptom, you can understand that the system could not identify the video card and can not figure out the drivers that should be used.
Identification
If you suddenly saw the inscription: "Standard VGA graphics adapter", you can use DeviceID. This is a system service that will help determine the installed graphics card.
To do this, staying in the "Device Manager", click on the "Unknown VGA adapter." From the list that appears, select the line “Properties”. A new dialog box opens, with tabs at the top. You need to select "Details". Below will be indicated the line “Properties”, in which you need to select the equipment ID.
A few lines will appear in the box below. You need to copy any of them. To do this, right-click and select "Copy." If you carefully look at all the results found, you will notice that the first part of the inscription is the same. We need information about VEN and DEV, which both indicate the manufacturer and the device.
Knowing their meanings, you need to go to a specialized site, which will help determine the video card - this is devid.info. In the search bar on the site, enter the indicators VEN and DEV, and then click the "Search" button.
Integrated graphics card
As already mentioned, the system may have an integrated and discrete graphics card. How to identify the latter, we know, but how to find out which integrated video card is in the system?
For example, you can click RMB on the desktop, select the "Personalization" column. On the left, select the "Screen" section, and then find the "Screen Settings" item. A new dialog box will open in which you will need to select "Advanced Options".
In the properties of the monitor you can see the model of the screen and the integrated video card. But there may be some inaccuracies.
Very often in the column “Type of adapter” only the manufacturer of the video card is indicated, and not its model. The same will be displayed if you go to the "Device Manager". Select "Video Adapter" and along with a discrete graphics card notice AMD Radeon Graphics Processor or Intel HD Graphic.
In this case, you can go back to the adapter properties and select DeviceID. By the values of VEN and DEV it is necessary to determine the model of the integrated video card. Alternatively, you can go to “My Computer”, right-click on a free area and select “Properties”. After that, a dialog box will open in which you can find out what processor the system is running on. Next, it will be enough to copy the processor model and use it to determine the graphics core built into it.
Inoperative system
How to find out what a video card costs if the computer or laptop does not turn on? In this case, you will have to carefully study all the available markings on the boards. That is, in fact, this is the same visual method that was already discussed.
If you need to learn about the integrated graphics card, you will have to see the processor markings. If you want to know the model of an external video card, you will have to look at the board or cover.
What exactly should you pay attention to? If we have a desktop PC, then usually all the markings are on the stickers. It will be easiest to rewrite all the names and numbers. After that, it will be enough to enter them in the Google search box, and the system itself will find us the desired model.
If the laptop does not turn on, but you need to find out its video card, it will be enough to search the specification of the device model on the Internet. Here you can even find very old gadgets that have long been discontinued.
It will be more difficult to identify the video card of a laptop by marking, since you will have to figure out how to disassemble the device. Not all laptops are easy to spin up and get to any details. But if you still find some kind of chip on the board, write down its marking and again look for the model of the video card on the Internet.
Additional system tools: dxdiag
If none of the above methods is suitable for any reason, you can try to figure out how to find out which video card is in Windows 7 using system tools.
Windows has additional services that can provide information about the model and manufacturer of the adapter. This option is suitable if you could not open the “Device Manager”.
In this case, the service from DirectX is usually used. This component is always installed in the operating system, as many programs and games require it. To work with it, you need to run the command line. To do this, we use the already familiar combination of Win + R. In the window that appears, enter dxdiag. This command will launch the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.
In the new dialog box, you will need to go to the “Screen” tab. Here in the table you can immediately see the model of the video card, information about its drivers. You can immediately find out which version of DirectX is used by the system.
Additional system tools: msinfo32
If this option does not suit you, you can use another command. Again, run the command line with the key combination Win + R and enter msinfo32. In the left part, select the "Components" section, go to the "Display". The adapter information appears next to the table. The first field “Name” will indicate the model of the video card.
AIDA64 Program
Checking the parameters of the video card can also be done using programs. There are a number of popular utilities that help not only determine the model of the adapter, but also find out its characteristics. Among them there is both integrated software and specialized. In the first case, you can find out information not only about the video card, but also about other characteristics of the computer or laptop.
Earlier very popular was the Everest program. Now it was replaced by the AIDA64 utility. It provides information about the video card and other hardware specifications of the PC.
It should be noted right away that this utility is paid, but there is a free 30-day period of use. If you need to quickly determine the model of the video card, then this software is also suitable in the trial version. To get information, in the program you need to go to the line “Computer”, click on the section “Summary Information”. In the list, find the field “Display and video adapter”. The model of the video card will be indicated here.
GPU-Z program
But GPU-Z is a program for checking a video card. This utility helps to find out information about the adapter. You can download it from the official site for free. Software determines the model of the video card, the frequency of the processor and memory, temperature and many other indicators.