How Do I Allocate More Power to a Graphics Card? (5 Steps)
By Jasmine Carpenter
If you're into gaming and want to allocate more power to your graphics card, you can adjust the card's settings from the Graphics Control Panel. Depending upon the version of Windows that you are using and the graphics card model, not all of the options will be available. But, if you're running Windows Vista or Windows 7, you can set individual games or applications to use a unique setting to help optimize their performance.
Step 1
Move your mouse to a blank area on your display screen. Right-click, highlight and select your graphics card from the drop-down menu. The "Graphics Settings" pop-up window will appear on your screen. Next, highlight and select the "3D" option from the drop-down menu.
Step 2
Override the graphics card to standard default settings. Click the check box for "Custom Settings." Then, select the "Anti-Aliasing" option from the drop-down menu.
Step 3
Click the "Use Application Settings" check box. The game or application that you are running will choose the level that it needs to run effectively.
Step 4
Highlight and select "Adaptive Anti-Aliasing" from the drop-down menu. Next, click the "Enable Anti-Aliasing" check box. This option will help improve a visual image quality.
Step 5
Select the "Anisotropic Filter" option from the drop-down menu. Then, click "Enable the settings." Next, select "More Options" from the drop-down menu and click the "Triple Buffering" and "Support DTX Texture Format" check boxes.
References
- "Building Extreme PCs: The Complete Guide To Computer Modding"; Ben Hardwidge; 2006
Tips
- You can allocate more power to your graphics card. You can adjust your BIOS (Basic Input Output System) settings or overclock Windows memory. Also, third-party utilities are available for graphics cards that you can download from the Internet. The utilities will allow you to set the operating speed of the GPU (Graphic Processing Unit) and the memory, as well as configure 3D functions for applications.
Warnings
- The easiest way to increase your graphics card performance is by installing the latest drivers and tweaking them. You can always invest in a more powerful graphics card, but if you decide to overclock your present card to boost its frequency, make sure that your system is equipped with powerful cooling fans to help keep the components inside your computer from overheating. Overclocking your computer can put an excessive amount of wear and tear on your system's resources.
Writer Bio
Jasmine Carpenter enjoys writing Web content articles and designing websites. She studied computer science while attending college in Columbus, Ohio. Carpenter has written several technology-related articles that have appeared on various websites.