The Basics:  Graphics Cards

A graphics or video card is a unique PC accessory. For starters, you don't actually need one to perform basic computing tasks such as surfing the internet or working with office documents, as integrated graphics on most PCs will handle the display required for these activities. You can even play some light games on systems with integrated graphics.

However, integrated graphics usually share video memory with the main system RAM. Even if they have their own dedicated video memory, integrated graphics options aren't as adept at handling 3-D rendering as separate graphics cards. If you're a hardcore gamer or a graphics editor, you need a current-generation graphics card with a decent amount of dedicated video memory on board.

When they were first introduced over a decade ago, graphics cards primarily used a PCI slot (one of the common slots on a PC motherboard) for their connection. A few years later, manufacturers introduced a slot specifically designed for graphics cards called the accelerated graphics port, or AGP. These new ports allowed for faster transfer rates between the CPU and graphics card, which translated into better gaming performance.

The newest dedicated graphics port is called PCI Express x16. This dedicated graphics card slot allows transfer rates that are twice those of the fastest AGP, and most new graphics cards are being released in PCI Express format. You can still get AGP cards, and there are even PCI cards for older PCs and newer systems that lack a dedicated graphics card port, but PCI Express x16 is the direction the market is heading.

Some high-end gaming and CAD (computer aided design) systems have more than one graphics card slot. This configuration allows you to put a pair of cards in your system for much faster video performance.

Graphics cards have their own built-in video memory, usually ranging from 128MB up to 512MB. This memory is DDR or faster. DDR, or double-data rate memory, is able to transfer information at nearly twice the speed of traditional memory. In the past, the more memory your graphics card had, the better it would perform. Now, there are a number of other factors that affect overall performance, including the graphics card's memory and core clock speeds, the port it connects through and so on. Still, the amount of dedicated video memory is still an important deciding factor when choosing a graphics card.

Graphics cards are such powerful peripherals that they have their own processing chip, commonly called a GPU (graphics processing unit). This is the "brain" of the card, and it handles all the complicated graphics algorithms that would normally have to be performed by the main system processor. Although they aren't usually rated in the same terms as CPUs (in MHz or GHz), each new generation of GPU offers faster performance.

There used to be a variety of video card vendors on the market, but today, most consumer graphics cards are made by two companies:  ATI and NVIDIA. ATI offers the Radeon series of cards, while NVIDIA has its GeForce family. Other vendors purchase the core cards from these two manufacturers and then package and sell them with their own brand name, and ATI also sells its own cards directly. The exact same core card might have some subtle differences in how it's packaged, so shop around if you're looking for specific extras. You can also still find some graphics cards from Matrox. This company is best known for graphics cards with multiple outputs, which let you stretch a game image across two or more monitors.

How to Shop

Graphics cards range from less than $50 for an older card to more than $500 for a current-generation, cutting-edge screamer, so you have a lot of choices in terms of cost. Unless you're a hardcore gamer who needs to live on the bleeding edge of performance, you don't need to pay a premium price for a current-generation graphics card. As with CPUs, if you can stand to step back to a previous generation, you can get close to the same performance while saving $100 to $200 compared to a top-end model.

Keep in mind that a graphics card is only one aspect of your system's gaming performance. If you put the most powerful card on the market into a system with an average processor and a small amount of memory, the rest of your PC won't be able to take advantage of the new card's high-performance capabilities. On the other hand, if you pick a graphics card that is more appropriate for your system's abilities, you'll get a nice graphics boost.

You should choose a graphics card with at least 128MB of memory, although 256MB is a better mark to shoot for. Unless you'll really be pushing the card, 512MB may be overkill for today's games, and it costs quite a bit more for a card with that much video memory.

Your PC's connection is another important consideration. If you have a newer system with a PCI Express port, you definitely want to go with a video card that supports PCI Express. This port's faster bandwidth means that more data can go through at once, increasing performance. Remember, however, that there are a number of great cards that connect via AGP, including current-generation cards. If your system only has PCI ports, you can still scrounge up a PCI graphics card that will give you a solid jump in graphics performance, although the slower bandwidth limits these cards' performance.

Installing a card is essentially the same process for any of these connections. You'll have to open up your system, insert the card in the appropriate slot and tighten it down with a screw. Some motherboards have all three types of slots, but go with a PCI Express x16 card if you can.

There are a lot of extra ports on the back of a video card that may come in handy. If you are using a digital flat-panel monitor, for example, you'll want a graphics card with a digital video (DVI) output. There are also S-video and component output ports on some video cards that let you send a signal from your PC to a compatible television, and even an HDTV. This is useful for watching DVD movies from your PC or gaming on a larger screen.

ATI also offers their All-in-Wonder family of graphics cards, which can do a lot more than just boost graphics performance. Indeed, these cards let you input and edit video on your PC. Most of these cards also incorporate TV tuner capabilities, turning your computer into a digital video recorder (DVR). This means you can watch, pause and record live TV on your computer, even editing and burning your favorite shows to DVD.

In the past, vendors bundled several video games with their cards. However, to cut costs, software bundles for most new graphics cards have become more streamlined. Nevertheless, it isn't a bad idea to check the back of the box to see what's inside. You might still get some unique bundled applications, such as a software DVD player or a video-editing package.

Graphics cards are usually priced for performance. In other words, the more you spend on a card, the better your performance will be. The difference between ATI and NVIDIA mainly comes down to personal preference, as both manufacturers' cards work quite well for 3-D gaming. Finding the right card for your needs depends on how hardcore a gamer you are, what the rest of your system is like and how much you're willing to spend. There are plenty of graphics cards available, and you will no doubt find one that will really beef up your graphics performance for a price you're willing to pay.