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I'm thinking about buying a new graphic card. What should I do before removing the old one, other than removing proprietary drivers?

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I like Oli's answer. :)

The only thing I might add if your paranoid about picking a new card and want to be extra cautious would be to check the Ubuntu hardware catalog for video compatibility with your specific card choice.

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+1 Good suggestion – Sabacon Dec 22 '11 at 15:20
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Have a cup of tea.

But seriously, that's about all you want to do and you don't even need to do that before you rip it out.

Any old-config issues can be resolved fairly swiftly when the new graphics card is in. If you have issues,

  • Get to a terminal any way you can (login if it boots to terminal, or try a TTY via ControlAltF1, or if all else fails, hold shift on reboot and enter the recovery console.
  • Remove old driver packages
  • Nuke /etc/X11/xorg.conf from lower orbit.

These are things you can do before changing but it makes very little difference.

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Oh ok, so I should not worry too much right? – psylockeer Dec 22 '11 at 14:32
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Nope. You need not to worry. This is one of the things Linux does a hell of a lot better than Windows ;) – Rinzwind Dec 22 '11 at 14:35
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I don't think so. I'd even say postponing the changes might be better. If your new card is DOA (happens sometimes) you won't have lost your old configuration. – Oli♦ Dec 22 '11 at 14:37
+1 - I agree. Do as little as possible in case the new card is DOA. It happens when you least expect it! – Mat Nadrofsky Dec 22 '11 at 14:45
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Dead On Arrival. A card that needs sending back instantly because it's broken when you get it. – Oli♦ Dec 22 '11 at 15:14
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