Important Factors When Buying a Video Card

Whether you are a computer gamer, graphic designer, video editor or casual user, getting a separate video card can help your computing machine to perform better especially when accommodating graphic demanding applications. Buying a video card, also known as graphics card, is one of the most important decisions you will make for your computer.

Just like other computer components such as memory and processor, a video card has many technical specifications that you need to consider before buying one. Knowing the things that you need to consider will help you select the right graphic card for your computer and your particular needs. This article aims to provide some of the important factors when buying a video card.

First, the main features of a video card should be considered. This includes the speed, memory capacity, resolution and type of card slot. Video cards with great amount of memory are perfect for gaming at high resolution and maximize the GPU horsepower capacity. The clock speed is also important for faster graphic calculations. There are two types of card slot: the AGP (Advanced Graphics Port) and PCI-Express (Peripheral Component Interface). The latter offers approximately twice the data transfer rate of AGP.

The framerate of graphics card is another thing to look for. This factor tells how many frames per second your computer system can display. In addition, this feature directly affects the performance of the card by providing smoother animation, browsing and scrolling. The faster the framerate, the faster the video card can perform.

Aside from memory as the major factor, the GPU or Graphics Processing Unit is the heart of graphic cards. This small chip plays a significant role in the card's 3D graphic performance and animation, as well as in basic 2D acceleration and framebuffer capabilities. Today, Nvidia and AMD/ ATI are some of the most renowned manufacturers of GPU chips on the market. Their lineup of GPU chipsets is popularly known as "Nvidia GeForce" and "ATI Radeon" respectively.

The compatibility of video cards to Direct X application is necessary to be able to run all the graphics features. For instance, a DirectX 10 video card is required in order to run DX10 enabled games at the highest settings. But still, a card that is not fully compatible with the latest version of DX (Direct X) can be used.

Many high-end video cards especially those intended for gamers require a considerable amount of power. This means that card needs extra power connector. You can check the power requirements of it at the back of the box or stated in the manual. Typically, latest cards need 400W-450W power supply.

Now, the difficulty of choosing the perfect graphics card depends on what you really need and the things you want to consider. If you are not sure what to buy, ask someone who understands the specifications of a video card.