what to do before swapping GPU? (1060 out - 1080ti in)

Tai Tran · July 2, 2018

So I have a 1080ti I want to put in my rig to replace the 1060. Do i have to uninstall anything or change anything before I do that? I know that I have to like turn off the pc and unplug the psu but what do I do before that?

Thanks for helping!!!

suchamoneypit · July 2, 2018

Shut down your system, Turn off your PSU (power supply), unplug your PSU, unplug power cables from your 1060, remove the 1060 (some PCI-E slots have a locking mechanism you need to push in towards motherboard to release the card), install the 1080ti in its place. Plug back in the PSU cable, turn the PSU back on, turn the system back on, go to NVIDIA's website and download and install the correct drivers.

EDIT: Notes: Looking into your case, on the left side of the card there may be screws securing the GPU bracket to the case for stability. These need to be removed to take out the card and should be reinstalled on the 1080ti to properly secure it an support its weight. Make sure to unplug all your display cables beforehand as well!

Rainbow Dash · July 2, 2018

You won't need to uninstall any drivers since all the GTX 1000 series gpus use the same drivers.

1. Turn off your PC

2. Unplug the PSU

3. Open your case, and make sure you ground yourself to avoid static discharge by touching the metal on the pc case

4. Take out old GPU by unlocking the latch and put it on a non-conductive surface like a wood table or desk, but nothing metal or plastic

5. Touch pc case metal to ground yourself again for safety

6. Take out new GPU from bag (Outside of bag is not anti-static so don't put it on there)

7. Put the new GPU into the top PCIEx16 slot where your old GPU was plugged in, make sure the latch clicks and make sure it is secure and put on the screws if your case uses them for GPUs

8. Ground yourself again

9. Hook up GPU power pins

10. Put case panel back on

11. Open a can of cold soda and make sure you chug with your pinky out that you didn't forget to plug anything in

Or just watch this video:

Tai Tran · July 2, 2018

3 hours ago, Rainbow Dash said:

You won't need to uninstall any drivers since all the GTX 1000 series gpus use the same drivers.

1. Turn off your PC

2. Unplug the PSU

3. Open your case, and make sure you ground yourself to avoid static discharge by touching the metal on the pc case

4. Take out old GPU by unlocking the latch and put it on a non-conductive surface like a wood table or desk, but nothing metal or plastic

5. Touch pc case metal to ground yourself again for safety

6. Take out new GPU from bag (Outside of bag is not anti-static so don't put it on there)

7. Put the new GPU into the top PCIEx16 slot where your old GPU was plugged in, make sure the latch clicks and make sure it is secure and put on the screws if your case uses them for GPUs

8. Ground yourself again

9. Hook up GPU power pins

10. Put case panel back on

11. Open a can of cold soda and make sure you chug with your pinky out that you didn't forget to plug anything in

Or just watch this video:

all i need to know is the driver thing. But u actually put up the full answer and that's freaking awesome. I hope people who google this same question will see this post and see your answer haha

Tai Tran · July 2, 2018

1 hour ago, Tai Tran said:

all i need to know is the driver thing. But u actually put up the full answer and that's freaking awesome. I hope people who google this same question will see this post and see your answer haha

***CLARIFICATION*** : in my case, I had to actually rerun the driver installation process. So basically you don't have to uninstall anything beforehand but after you swap the card some of the nvidia stuff seem to not be working right (resolution, audio) so all I gotta do is run the same driver file I first downloaded from NVIDIA driver download page. So yeah, keep that file in your download folder, just in case.