Video: Types of Computer Graphics Cards

When choosing a computer graphics card, consider the type of card, whether it be an NVIDIA or a Radeon device, and choose a brand that is compatible with the motherboard device. Find the right graphics card with tips from a systems administrator in this free video on computer hardware.

Video Transcript

Hello, right now we are talking about video cards. Video cards are the fun stuff, that's where you sort of get into the higher end gaming and that's a particular favorite of mine. There are several factors to consider in video cards. Number one is the type of video card. There are essentially two competing after market types of video cards out there. There's the NVIDIA series of video cards which is where you get your GeForce type devices and then there's also the Radeon devices which are I believe solely made by ATI but I'm not for certain on that. The second aspect to consider when you're dealing with video cards is the brand. Different companies like for instance EVGA makes NVIDIA cards. Intel makes NVIDIA cards and then ATI obviously makes the Radeon cards. So depending on your preference for the type of video card you're going to get, you also need to consider a brand maker that is compatible with your motherboard device. And then the last item to consider with an actual video card is the architecture. You have to use a card that will match what your motherboard can support. This card right here is an AGP video card. AGP is the architecture that came out towards the end of the 90's or early 2000's. These cards actually began to replace the PCI architecture in terms of video card components. PCI architecture still exists on the motherboard but typically motherboard makers will incorporate a particular type of slot for the sake of video graphics. This card is one of the newer architectures that's out there, this is a PCI Express video card. PCI Express isn't necessarily replacing PCI but it's a form of the PCI architecture that moves very rapidly and PCI Express has actually begun to replace the AGP video card components. And this particular card is probably better than most mid to high grade AGP video cards. But that's an example of a PCI video card architecture. And the last thing to consider when deciding on a video card is the speed of the video card. Typically video cards have some form of integrated memory or integrated RAM into them. And a lot of the older type cards are 64 megabits or 32 megabits and nowadays you're looking at things that have a gigabyte of memory installed in them or 512. So depending on what you're doing will depend the speed of the video that you need to consider to purchase.

Types of Computer Graphics Cards

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