Although this guide is mainly based on video cards, it was impossible not to cover a bit of the other topics associated with upgrading a video card.
Nvidia GeForce and ATi Radeon Buyers Guide
What do you need a graphics card for? Word processing, internet browsing, gaming?
Many computers have built in (integrated) video cards. This means that when you plug your monitor into the VGA (video graphics array) slot, you're plugging it directly onto a port that is part of the motherboard. This slot is good enough to take you down the internet highway and view sites. Or to do some work on excel, word, or maybe just for sending emails. These are very simple tasks for a graphics "card".
What if you hunger to play the latest games on your PC? Well odds are, your onboard video wont do the job. This is most likely what brought you here.
You've heard that you need a video card and you probably looked through the thousands of listings offering you one, but what does everything mean? If anything, you're probably more confused now than when you started looking into buying a video card.
There are 2 main manufacturers you want to look for when buying a video card, ATi and Nvidia.
Important Information for choosing a Video card
Nvidia GeForce and ATi Radeon Buyers Guide
What do you need a graphics card for? Word processing, internet browsing, gaming?
Many computers have built in (integrated) video cards. This means that when you plug your monitor into the VGA (video graphics array) slot, you're plugging it directly onto a port that is part of the motherboard. This slot is good enough to take you down the internet highway and view sites. Or to do some work on excel, word, or maybe just for sending emails. These are very simple tasks for a graphics "card".
What if you hunger to play the latest games on your PC? Well odds are, your onboard video wont do the job. This is most likely what brought you here.
You've heard that you need a video card and you probably looked through the thousands of listings offering you one, but what does everything mean? If anything, you're probably more confused now than when you started looking into buying a video card.
There are 2 main manufacturers you want to look for when buying a video card, ATi and Nvidia.
Important Information for choosing a Video card