How to find the best graphics cards and graphics adapters

Buyers Guide to Graphics Cards: Choosing the best graphics adapters and graphics cards

Selecting a graphics card for your computer never used to throw up quite such a diverse selection of products to choose from, in spite of there now being only two main graphics chip manufacturers. With more code-names, individual models and all-round choice than perhaps there ever has been, understandably some find the process overwhelming.

On one hand, you have video output incorporated into the motherboard itself, negating the need for a separate graphics card entirely, and on the other you have companies trying to persuade you to put two top of the range models in one PC, leaving you little changed from £900. This aim of this guide is to help you decipher it a little, and to generally point you in the right
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How to find the best graphics cards and graphics adapters

Perhaps we should start at the bottom? The computer motherboard, then. An able beast that can handle a multitude of tasks. If you want, you can now buy one that'll handle the graphics processing for your computer. This is a fine and wise solution if you have modest graphical needs. After all, if a spot of word processing, watching the odd DVD and a little e-mailing is all you have in mind, then on-board graphics is fine.

Any demands above that, though, and there could be problems. The reason for this is that the majority of home computers have a separate graphics card, as processing graphics is one of the most intensive tasks a computer has to handle. It thus makes sense in the majority of cases to have a special card dedicated to just that.

If you rely on the motherboard to do the work, then somewhere along the line it's going to have a performance impact. Imagine if you, at work, suddenly had a major extra job landed on you with no extra resources to tackle it with. It's basically going to spread you thinner, and have a performance impact on everything else you do.

And the same works true here, as whilst on-board graphics performance has certainly come on in recent years, it's no match for a dedicated graphics board. Therefore, on-board graphics is fine if your intended use is modest, not so if you're likely to even entertain the idea of playing a relatively modern 3D game with the settings on a decent level, or undertake any task that involves a degree of graphical work.

What defines your buying decision is, inevitably, what you intend to do with your computer. It's a simple consideration, but one too often missed when faced with glossy boxes, high reviews scores and umpteen freebies chucked into a package.