how do i upgrade my gpu (drivers)

Question

I want to get a new gpu, but I'm afraid if I just swap it out with the new one the drivers will not be compatible. Also do I even need to change the drivers manually, or can I just swap out the card and the software manager will just find the Wright drivers for me? I'm using ubuntu 15.04 with nvidia drivers current gpu: gt 730 New gpu: gtx 950 (when it is relesd).

Answer 1

I upgraded my card by powering down, swapping cards and then booting up and installing the new drivers from the command line. It looks like the GTX 950 was added in the 352.41 version of the drivers, so you will need at minimum that version. (nvidia-352 should work but I haven't tested.)

Install the new drivers by adding the official PPA and following these instructions:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-355

The install process was straightforward and I have not had any problems with the driver/card.

Answer 2

There are several ways to do it, but I advise you to install via repository This is how I do it:

Instructions

1. Go to http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us and find the name of your latest NVIDIA Drivers for your card. Mine is 352.

2. In terminal:sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mamarley/nvidia

3. In terminal:sudo apt-get update

4. Finally, to install, via terminal(replace 352 with your driver number you found on nvidia site):sudo apt-get install nvidia-352 nvidia-settings

Note sometimes NVIDIA Driver doesn't let you install giving you an error of X server something. To fix this you have to:

1. CTRL + F1
2. Login and stop lightdm: sudo service lightdm stop
3. Run the commands for terminal that I wrote on top and it should work fine.

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Another way is just go to Settings > Software & Updates > Additional Drivers and select the latest NVIDIA for your card.