How to choose the Video Card
Quick review of Video Card technology
Video card or integrated graphics?
The first question is whether to use a separate video card or a graphics
processor unit (GPU) integrated in the motherboard chipset. Integrated
GPUs are a substantially cheaper option, given the additional cost of a
separate video card. For most users whose graphics needs include playing
casual video games, watching DVDs and streaming videos certain integrated
GPUs will do more than great and save you money. However if serious 3D
gaming is your thing you really don't have a choice, you need the power of a
separate video card.
Integrated graphics for most
Intel's H67 Express chipset for Intel platform motherboards, AMD's 880G for
AMD platform motherboards are breakthroughs in integrated GPU
performance and will do an excellent job for the majority of PC users who
are not serious 3D gamers. NVIDIA's 9300 and 9400 chipsets known as Ion, for
Intel platform motherboards are also top notch integrated motherboard
GPUs but are more expensive.
Low end video cards
Intense competition exists between the two video card designers - AMD's
ATI and NVIDIA at all performance levels of video cards. We don't
recommend any of their low end cards. They don't do a good enough job for
3D gaming. Its better to save with integrated graphics if you're not a serious
gamer or better to get a higher class of video card if you are.
High performance video cards
AMD Radeon HD 6670 and HD 6770, or NVIDIA GTS 450 and GTX 550 Ti are
cards we would recommend for the majority of gamers who use monitor
resolutions of 1920 by 1080, a native resolution for most 22 inch to 24 inch
LCD monitors, monitor sizes we recommend.
Ultra video cards
At the next performance level but getting more expensive are AMD Radeon
HD 6790 and HD 6850 and NVIDIA GTX 460 to consider. For extreme gamers,
for whom cash is no object, there are still more powerful cards. The extra
graphics power of all these extreme cards will cost you a lot more, increase
your power supply and cooling requirements and also the noise levels.
SLI and CrossfireX configurations
You can also get increased graphics performance by combining two video
cards in the same PC. NVIDIA calls it an SLI configuration (NVIDIA dual video
cards), and ATI calls it a CrossfireX configuration (ATI dual video cards). This
requires a motherboard that supports dual video card configurations
increasing the cost, in addition to the extra cost of two video cards. These
days you can get very powerful single video cards so these dual video card
configurations are overkill for most.
Quick review of Video Card technology
Video card or integrated graphics?
The first question is whether to use a separate video card or a graphics
processor unit (GPU) integrated in the motherboard chipset. Integrated
GPUs are a substantially cheaper option, given the additional cost of a
separate video card. For most users whose graphics needs include playing
casual video games, watching DVDs and streaming videos certain integrated
GPUs will do more than great and save you money. However if serious 3D
gaming is your thing you really don't have a choice, you need the power of a
separate video card.
Integrated graphics for most
Intel's H67 Express chipset for Intel platform motherboards, AMD's 880G for
AMD platform motherboards are breakthroughs in integrated GPU
performance and will do an excellent job for the majority of PC users who
are not serious 3D gamers. NVIDIA's 9300 and 9400 chipsets known as Ion, for
Intel platform motherboards are also top notch integrated motherboard
GPUs but are more expensive.
Low end video cards
Intense competition exists between the two video card designers - AMD's
ATI and NVIDIA at all performance levels of video cards. We don't
recommend any of their low end cards. They don't do a good enough job for
3D gaming. Its better to save with integrated graphics if you're not a serious
gamer or better to get a higher class of video card if you are.
High performance video cards
AMD Radeon HD 6670 and HD 6770, or NVIDIA GTS 450 and GTX 550 Ti are
cards we would recommend for the majority of gamers who use monitor
resolutions of 1920 by 1080, a native resolution for most 22 inch to 24 inch
LCD monitors, monitor sizes we recommend.
Ultra video cards
At the next performance level but getting more expensive are AMD Radeon
HD 6790 and HD 6850 and NVIDIA GTX 460 to consider. For extreme gamers,
for whom cash is no object, there are still more powerful cards. The extra
graphics power of all these extreme cards will cost you a lot more, increase
your power supply and cooling requirements and also the noise levels.
SLI and CrossfireX configurations
You can also get increased graphics performance by combining two video
cards in the same PC. NVIDIA calls it an SLI configuration (NVIDIA dual video
cards), and ATI calls it a CrossfireX configuration (ATI dual video cards). This
requires a motherboard that supports dual video card configurations
increasing the cost, in addition to the extra cost of two video cards. These
days you can get very powerful single video cards so these dual video card
configurations are overkill for most.
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