➤ Why doesn't the PC give video when I connect the video card?

What is a video card?

Have you ever wondered what a video card is and what is it for? A video card or also called a "graphics card" is a component attached to a computer's motherboard. The video card processes the data sent by the CPU or "Central Processing Unit" and converts it into understandable information that can be displayed by an output device such as the monitor.

Video cards use a GPU o 'Graphics processing unit' which reduces CPU load to increase computer performance when processing 3D images.

What are the components of a video card?

The components of a video card are the GPU, the RAMDAC and the GRAM. The GPU allows graphic processing and it is the most relevant component of the video card; while RAMDAC is a digital signal converter which produces the PC signal to analog capable of interpreting the output device.

For its part, GRAM is the the memory graphics ad random access which allows the transport and storage of information in memory chips. Outside of the technical aspects, if you want to know what kind of video card you have in your PC, you can easily use the Windows device manager.

Why doesn't the PC give video when I connect the video card? - Solution

Sometimes when we connect a video card the PC does not give video. In this situation, it is important know the cause or source of the fault because it will be a determining factor that will allow us to apply an accurate solution.

Next, we explain the possible causes why the PC does not have a video output when we connect a graphics card and the solution that we can perform against this problem.

Causes a PC not providing video when connecting a graphics card

One of the causes that produces problems when connecting the video card and the PC does not give video it may be a bad connection. Deterioration of the monitor, some failure in the PC, a problem in the video card or RAM memories.

Check the connection if your PC is not providing video

If we want to use a dedicated video card in a PC, it is necessary to connect the monitor to the port of this component. Sometimes we connect the monitor to the integrated motherboard and for this simple reason the PC does not give video.

Check if the monitor works

The monitor may be defective or damaged. To find out, try the output device on another computer to rule out this possible cause.

Check your PC

Check if the power supply is working properly. To do this, check if your fan is running, the CPU heatsink is giving off heat, the hard drive is making a slight noise when starting the system, and if the power button is not faulty.

Reset BIOS

In the event that the equipment has a fault, you can reset the BIOS. To achieve this, locate the «clear cmos» button on the door panel or change the position of the jumper (located next to the battery if the motherboard is old) towards pins 2-3 for a few seconds and reposition it on pins 1- 2. On the other hand, you can choose to update the motherboard's UEFI BIOS to the latest version to keep your computer in good condition.

Check your RAM memories

If the video card you connected to your PC still does not give video, we recommend that you check the RAM memories to detect if any of them have faults. In this sense, install the RAM memories on another computer to rule out this problem. You can also change RAM modules if these components are damaged.

Check the operation of the video card

To verify finally that the video card is inserted correctly into the PCIe slot. Install the component on another PC to see if it is healthy. Plug the monitor into the motherboard's video port and if your PC provides video, your video card may have a problem. If the component doesn't work, you'll need to replace your PC's graphics card with a new one.