new graphics card

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I am finally getting a new graphics card! My dad is going to set it up tomorrow or Wednesday. It's an AMD card called the SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7079. Any general tips for him to not destroy my computer when putting it in?

I guess you meant 7970. Don't force when inserting the card. Be cautious. Plug it in the first PCIe slot.

First, make sure he's properly grounded himself and isn't working with the computer on a carpeted surface. I find that taking off one's socks helps too. This is so you don't build up a static charge that you can send into the electronics and cause all kinds of problems. Second, install the card in the PCI slot gently and secure it before attaching the power supply. Generally speaking these sorts of installations are fairly easy.

If you're running Windows, be nice to your fancypants hardware and keep the Raedon around 85-90% or just below it's standard numbers for GPU clock, voltage & the like. The simplest means of doing this is MSI Afterburner, it lets you keep the hardware load at a minimum & set profiles to open the electron floodgates only on application/game binaries that call for them.

_________________
"Standing on a well-chilled cinder, we see the fading of the suns, and try to recall the vanished brilliance of the origin of the worlds."
-Georges Lemaitre
"I fly through hyperspace, in my green computer interface"
-Gem Tos

Have you made sure that your power supply is suitable for your graphics card? Dedicated graphics cards can be very power-hungry and if the PSU is insufficient it could damage other components in your system.

As a general rule, if your graphics card isn't small enough to be powered by the motherboard you should be looking at 750w +. Also, you haven't given us any info about the computer you have. If it's a manufactured PC (Dell, HP, Lenovo etc), the PSU will most likely be proprietary and not designed for anything more demanding than onboard Intel graphics which is standard for most office computers.

As long as you have the power pins on your riser, the factory PSU should support your Raedon's demands but you haven't given us your tower's Model # or spec sheet. Another option is to get a cheap PSU and run it divorced - i.e. outside your system's casing, powering only your card through a surge protector with a minimum of its' output harness.

As a rule, enterprise PC towers are overbuilt in these terms and consumer gear is built down to a price. That means if your tower is something along the lines of Precision, Optiplex, ThinkCentre, or anything "Pro", you're in the clear. The Pavillions, Inspirons, IdeaCentres, XPS's & Emachines of the world beg to differ - they're fire hazards unless they're closely monitored bulds.

It's not a tower (AIO actually) but I've got a fried XPS down for the count right now that's twice as nice as the Thinkpad I'm typing this on, it's just built like a Motorola RAZR whereas my Thinkpad is built like an automatic rifle. Impedences really matter - earlier this year I was working in 3D graphics and I learned the difference between DVI & DVI-D cables; DVI-D is a higher gauge because monitors over ~27" burnt through the insulation & desks.

_________________
"Standing on a well-chilled cinder, we see the fading of the suns, and try to recall the vanished brilliance of the origin of the worlds."
-Georges Lemaitre
"I fly through hyperspace, in my green computer interface"
-Gem Tos

My computer isn't detecting the graphics card. I installed the stuff on the disc, and I went on the website and installed the software and drivers from there. I disabled Intel HD Graphics under Displayed Adapters. What do I do now?

Can you clue us into your model of motherboard?

_________________
"Standing on a well-chilled cinder, we see the fading of the suns, and try to recall the vanished brilliance of the origin of the worlds."
-Georges Lemaitre
"I fly through hyperspace, in my green computer interface"
-Gem Tos

I don't know, but we've just discovered that that fans on the card aren't even running, and I don't think we have enough plugs to connect it to the power supply. Are there any adapters we can get, or are there just not enough and that's the end?

Normally, the manufacturer usually includes a molex->Pci express power adapter in the box. But if you are short of connectors on the power supply side, it may be also underpowered. The 7970 is quite a power hog, you may need to replace the PSU with a 550-600w from a decent brand like Antec, CoolerMaster, Fortron or SeaSonic.

If the computer is quite new (i.e using an UEFI bios) and prebuilt (from Dell, HP, Asus...), you may need to disable Secure boot and Enable CSM/Legacy mode in the bios.

Bios might also be able to turn on the power pins you still need for the card assuming they're on your motherboard & you can find the molex.

_________________
"Standing on a well-chilled cinder, we see the fading of the suns, and try to recall the vanished brilliance of the origin of the worlds."
-Georges Lemaitre
"I fly through hyperspace, in my green computer interface"
-Gem Tos

Did you get it sorted?
If the graphics card you have is the HD7970, then you will need to provide Auxiliary Power to the card as well as the power from the PCI Slot. The card seems to have a need for a 8 way connector AND a 6 way connector. It is unlikely that many 'Stock' PSU would have the right connectors and/or be powerful enough. As other posters have said you need to post specs for you existing PSU and Motherboard and there will be someone to help.

I bought my son a new Graphics card for Christmas (A GTX970) and we needed to ensure we had the right PSU. I personally chose the Corsair CS650M semi-modular PSU on the balance of cost/power. It has the main Motherboard wires hard wired in, but has additional modular wires for graphics cards and HDD's, which you can choose not to insert. It cannot be heard either! Even if you manage to get some adapters for PCI-E connections from your existing supply there is as chance it will run very hot, the fan will be on all the time at full speed.

We also found that it took Windows 10 a while to get the right drivers installed, and for some reason also got no display from a DisplayPort connector, just on DVI.

If you can't see the make and model of the PSU/Motherboards, just take a few pictures of the insides, this will also help people give you some advice.

I hope you get it sorted.

Bluemax