Choosing A Graphics Card?

The graphics processor (GPU) is the unit that takes the ones and zeroes of computer data and converts them into signals that create the display you see on a monitor. A GPU can be basic such as the ones that come on the motherboards of the cheap desktop computers. In some of these types of PCs the user doesn't have a choice in GPUs. There may not be an expansion slot to insert a graphics card. In these types of units, the graphics processor must borrow memory from the main memory (RAM) and making it unavailable to the computer. This shared memory can lead to a reduction in performance of the central processing unit (CPU).

Graphics Cards

The next step up would be to a graphics card that plugs into an expansion slot on the motherboard. The AGP slot is one type, At one time, the primary slot was an ISA slot. This was the industry standard architecture. These have pretty much gone by the wayside with the advent of faster processors. Engineers started accelerating the speed of the GPU, leading to a new name...AGP or accelerated graphics processor. In the past 3 years, another type has come forth called PCI-E. PCI Express, officially abbreviated as PCI-E or PCIe, is a computer expansion card interface format introduced by Intel in 2004. PCI Express was designed to replace the general-purpose PCI expansion bus, the high-end PCI-X bus and the AGP graphics card interface. Unlike previous PC expansion interfaces, rather than being a bus it is structured around point-to-point serial links called lanes. The discussion of technical details of this technology is beyond the scope of this article. It can be reviewed at this nVidia page.

Surfing and Word Processing

If you intend to do no more than the basics such as surfing the internet, creating email or word processing, then you need no GPU power than that contained on the motherboards of the cheaper desktop computers. If you will be editing video or playing the basic video games, then you need to advance to the next level of AGP or PCIe cards. Prices for these begin around $50 and can soar to the $700 range for the most intensive game playing. The reason for this is that much of the video processing is off loaded by the central processing unit (CPU) to the GPU. If this were not done, game playing would appear to be moving in slow motion with jumpy video. If you were processing vide o from a camcorder, you would encounter render times of hours.

Special Requirements

These advanced cards come with some special requirements. The GPU's are extremely fast and speed equates to heat. All of them have heat sinks to help dissippate heat. Some of them even have small fans mounted atop the processor chips. There are even some of them cooled via a captive water process. All of them require more power and therefore need a power supply with higher wattage. Some even have their own connection to a power supply. The higher end card will even require extra cooling fans to move the heat.

The entire process of selection boils down to one of:
Need Decide what you need
Requirements Determine the requirements and ensure your motherboard, case and power supply can accommodate the special needs.
Price Can your budget take the hit? Some of these cards cost more than a computer itself,

If so, go for it!