How To Go About Choosing A Video Card

Anything you hear from your computer is handled by the sound processor or your sound card. Anything you see on your monitor is handled by your video or graphics card. Without a basic video card you won't be able to see any visuals from your computer at all.

Now similar to sound cards, most motherboards will have built in video processors. They are perfectly fine for every day computing tasks like writing a document or sending an email or browsing the internet. However if you wish to use your pc for things like video editing, graphics design work or to play certain games, you'll need a more high end video card that will be capable of 3D rendering.

The first thing to buying a video card is to know the type that your motherboard is compatible with. The AGP ( Advanced Graphics Port ) has been the standard for several years now, but is gradually being replaced by PCI-Express. Almost all the high-end video cards use PCI-Express, so if you have special graphics needs make sure your motherboard has this kind of slot.

Something you need to know about video cards is that they have their own integrated memory chips. A certain amount of memory is needed just to get an image on the monitor. Eight megabytes, for example, is required to display a screen resolution of 1600 x 1200. Most video cards have a minimum of 32 MB or 64 MB, and the extra memory is used for 3-D imaging and enhancing the refresh rate to provide a more stable display. The maximum amount of memory on current video cards is 640 MB. This is on a card designed for professional graphic design.

So as a general rule on what to buy, a 64 MB is suitable for everyday computing. And if you're getting a video card for computer games or video editing applications you'll need a graphics card with 128 MB to 256 MB worth of memory.

Just a quick note if you're buying a new video card so you can play a new computer game, the game's box should have the basic requirements needed to play it. But generally in order to truly enjoy the game and not just play it with the minimum requirements you'll want to at least get a video card that is a step above what's recommended.

Video Card