The following advises are based on many years of experience. They are provided as a free service to our customers and visitors. However, Computer Warehouse is not responsible for any damage as a result of following any of these guides.
Are you wanting to compare the performance of one card with the performance of another card? The performance of a video card is highly related to the graphic chipset (GPU) of the card. Cards with the same GPU are going to have almost the same performance level in *most* situations.
These are the major factors in choosing a video card: video speed, resolution, and price. We offer the following advice for visitors to weigh these factors according to four types of PC users: average, above average, graphic workers, and gamers.
For average users who use computers only for word processing, spreadsheet, and e-mail, in-built video is enough.
For above average users who surf the web on a daily basis in addition to other common PC tasks, a 128MB video is must. Modest speed and price should be the main factors for consideration.
For graphic designers and CAD workers, resolution is the most critical factor. Higher resolution typically means slower speed. Therefore a video card with a combination of high-resolution chipset and a large amount of memory is recommended. Keep in mind that the highest resolution one can achieve is also determined by the maximum monitor resolution. That?s why graphic designers often use high-resolution, low-dot-pitch professional monitors.
By definition, gamers love high speed, especially raw 3D processing speed. They often choose the most advanced chipset with the highest amount of memory. The most advanced and often most expensive video cards are designed for gamers.
Video card speed is determined mainly by three factors: chipset speed, amount of memory, and the type of onboard memory. DDR RAM is faster than SDRAM. If you care about speed, make sure you get the faster memory chips on the video card.
If you had old computer and want to upgrade it for faster video, first determine if you have an AGP slot or not. If not, your choice would be limited to PCI video cards, which are slower and being phased out. High-end PCI video cards are hard to find. Also, a new standard of video cards are being produced, PCI-E (AKA PCI Express). AGP is now being phased out as well.
The difference between AGP and PCI Express.
PCI Express is a recent feature addition to many new motherboards. PCI Express support can have a big impact on your hardware choices both now and in future.
PCI is now an old standard dating back to the early 90?s and no longer fits our needs in terms of speed/performance. AGP also is in similar position as PCI now, and chipset manufacturers are killing AGP motherboard support in favor of the much faster PCI Express Interface. This means you are looking at a forced transition the graphic sector, thus you really don?t have a lot of choice in the coming years.
We all want the most from our PC. To get the most out of your PC we must remove all bottlenecks (obstacles to performance). To that end we must turn to the next best alternative: PCI Express.
Since PCI Express is a serial based technology, data can be sent over the bus in two directions. Normal PCI is parallel, and as such all data goes in one direction around the loop. Each 1x lane in PCI Express can transmit in both directions.
PCI Express is an exciting advance in the area of computers. Although AGP is now starting to die rapidly, standard PCI is taking/will take longer to die off. Expect to see at least 1 or 2 standard PCI slots along side PCI Express in all motherboards for at least the next 2 years. By that time there will be PCI Express replacements for all common devices such as modems, network cards, raid cards, I/O and more.
