You may have the experience of using video card or graphics card with your personal computer.
In this post, I will discuss all the types of graphics card with their advantages and disadvantages.
A video card can have different names like graphics card, video controller, display adapter, video board or video adapter.
Actually, a video card is an expansion cards and component of computer which can be connected to the motherboard via different ports.
Video cards control the image quality and appearance on our monitor screen.
Everything we see on our computer screen is directly or indirectly displayed with the help of video cards.
A video card or graphics card is a piece of hardware that can process the graphics portion of our computer.
Though CPU handles most of the work but we need a video card to increase the processing power.
They can run a program more efficiently as the programs are graphically oriented in modern times.
Most video card support openGL and DirectX and they have ability to speed up both 2D and 3D graphics rendering.
A video card has several components like GPU, DVI, video-BIOS, Video memory etc. In this article we will discuss about most common types of graphics cards.
There are several types of video cards we use today to make our personal computer more attractive to look at the screen.
Among them four most uses types of video cards according to connector type will be given here.
Four most common types of video card or graphics card is given bellow;
- PCI video card
- AGP video card
- PCI Express video card
- Integrated video card
1. PCI graphics card
PCI video cards use PCI slots on your motherboard to connect with them. Although, PCI graphics card are being used by user but they are losing popularity day by day.
Many older motherboards are still using PCI graphics card. Many older motherboards have only PCI slots to connect them.
For this there is still a reason to buy PCI video card.
2. AGP graphics card
AGP stands for Accelerated Graphics Port. AGP graphics card are named because they are also connected with the PC via AGP slots.
AGP gives more speed and they are more compatible than most cutting-edge video cards.
They were more popular in the early to mid 2000s, but now they are also losing their market.
AGP cards are not more used today because they are replaced by PCI Express. Most hardware builders are not including AGP with their systems because of its losing of popularity.
3. PCI Express graphics card
PCI express is the most advanced video card which is a standard of 2009. It has to connect with motherboard’s PCI-E slot.
They can be accelerated to 16x as well as a motherboard can connect with more than one PCI Express graphics card if it has extra slot.
Then the speed will be same as the combine speed of all the graphics card.
PCI Express graphics cards have also compatibility problems. Some motherboards work better with a specific brand where some shows problems if not planned properly.
Two largest manufacturer of PCI Express video cards are NVIDIA and ATI. Among three architecture of PCI Express, 3.0 is the latest.
4. Integrated graphics card
Integrated video cards are also called build in video cards. If your computer did not assemble by yourself then certainly it uses an integrated graphics card to display images.
They are also known as onboard graphics card. By default, they come with the standard motherboards.
Integrated graphics gives the lest powerful among all other technology we use today.
For this you need to upgrade your video card if you want to play some latest video games in your PC. We can’t remove them physically but we can disable it in computer BIOS.
How to choose the best graphics card
When you are looking to buy a graphics card, there are a few things you should consider.
First, what type of graphics card do you need? There are three main types of graphics cards: dedicated graphics cards, integrated graphics cards, and graphics processing units.
Second, what type of gaming do you want to do?
Dedicated graphics cards are best for high-end gaming, integrated graphics cards are best for everyday use, and graphics processing units are best for general computing.
Third, what are your budget restrictions? If you have a limited budget, you should buy a graphics processing unit (GPU).
If you have more money, you can buy a dedicated graphics card or an integrated graphics card.
Finally, what are your gaming goals? If you are mainly interested in playing games on your computer, you should buy a dedicated graphics card.
If you want to use your graphics card for general computing tasks, you should buy an integrated graphics card.
Conclusion
Graphics cards are one of the most important components in any PC.
They are responsible for rendering images on your screen, and they can be a major bottleneck when it comes to gaming performance.
Graphics cards are often the first thing to bottleneck when building a new PC, so make sure you get the right one for your needs.
Different games require different types of graphics cards, so it’s important to have a variety to choose from.
However, I think you have got a very clear concept of different types of graphics or video cards after reading this post.
I have tried my best to make this post very simple and readable to the readers.
If you have any doubt still now about the topics of this post, then don’t hesitate to tell us on the comment section.
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