Graphics card buyers guide

Differences

On average we can conclude that the possibilities of current 3D chips (low-, mid- and high-end) from a manufacturer are largely the same. The cards mainly differ as to speed, resulting in lower or higher frames per second that the card can produce on your screen. When you are mainly playing the newest 3D games, it is important to know that the most expensive card will generally produce the most frames per second, can comfortably run on the highest resolutions and will show the best possible 3D effects. On the other hand when gaming is not your thing the cheapest available card or even an integrated solution will be sufficient for your needs. The amount of memory on a card will have little influence on the overall performance, but will affect the processing of complex 3D scenes in games. As a rule, a card with 256MB of memory will suffice for most of today's games, but if you wish to be able to play the next generation of 3D games a card with 512 MB is a must.

Some other differences are worth taking into consideration; most of today's cards will be able to support two monitors, but in order to use two digital TFT screens you will need a card with two DVI connections, which are generally more expensive. A TV-out is found on almost every card available, but only the more expensive card will be able to accelerate actual video. This is important when you wish to play HD-movies in a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. To play standard video again a normal card will suffice.