12 important specifications to know before buying graphic card

Graphic Card

The first decision

The first decision you would like to create is whether or not you would like a graphics card for handling 3D images or whether you're simply requiring 2D image rendering. For 2D requirements, you would like only a low-cost solution. In many cases, an integrated graphics solution will suffice for 2D applications.

However with 3D graphics, the performance of the graphics card will impact directly on the frame rate and image quality of 3D programs and games. The differences between the low and high-end cards will be substantial, both in cost and performance.

Rendering 3D graphics is like lighting a stage, both the geometry of the shapes in question and therefore the lighting of it must be taken under consideration. The geometry of a picture calculates the parts of an object that may and cannot be seen, the position of the attention and its perspective. The lighting may be a calculation of the direction of the sunshine sources, their intensities and therefore the respective shadows that occur. The second part to presenting a 3D image is that the rendering of colors and textures to the surfaces of the objects, and modifying them consistent with light and other factors.

Most modern graphics cards include a little microchip called the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), which are provide the algorithms and memory to process complex images. They reduce the workload of the most CPU, and supply faster processing. Different graphics cards have different capabilities in terms of processing power. they'll render and refresh images up to 60 or more times per second, calculate shadows quickly, create image depth by rendering distant objects at low resolution, modify surface textures fluidly and eliminate pixilation.

Most important specification to consider

Processor clock speed

This impacts on the rendering capability of the GRU. The clock speed itself isn't the critical factor. Rather it's the per-clock performance of the graphics processor, which is indicated by the quantity of pixels it can process per clock cycle.

Memory size

This is the memory capacity that's used exclusively for graphics operations, and may be the maximum amount as 512MB. The more demanding your graphics applications are, the higher you may be served with more memory on your graphics card.

16-32M

64M

128M

256M

512M

640M and more

Memory bandwidth

One thing that may cut down 3D graphics performance is that the speed at which the pc delivers information to the graphics processor. a better bandwidth means a faster data transfer, leading to faster rendering speeds.

Shader model

DirectX Shader Models allows developers control over the looks of a picture because it is rendered on screen, introducing visual effects like multi-layered shadows, reflection and fog.

Fill rate

This is the speed at a picture will be rendered or "painted". This rate is per texels per second, the quantity of 3D pixels that may be painted per second. A texel may be a pixel with depth (3D). The fill rate comes from the combined performance of the clock speed of the processor and therefore the number of pixels it can process per clock cycle, and can tell you the way quickly a picture will be fully rendered on screen.

Vertices/triangles

Graphics chips don't work on curves, rather they process flat surfaces. A curve is made by multiple flat planes arranged to appear sort of a curve. 3D objects are created with multiple triangular surfaces, sometimes hundreds or perhaps thousands, tessellated to represent the curves and angles of the $64000 world. 3D artists are concerned with the quantity of polygons required to create a shape. There are two differing kinds of specification: vertices per second (I.e., angles the triangles), and triangles per second. to check one measure with the opposite, you have got to require under consideration the very fact that adjacent triangles share vertices.

Anti-aliasing

A technique accustomed smooth images by reducing the jagged stepping effect caused by diagonal lines and square pixels. Different levels of anti-aliasing have different effects on performance.

RAMDAC

The Random-Access Memory Digital to Analogue Converter takes the image data and converts it to a format that your screen can use. A faster RAMDAC means the graphics card can support higher output resolutions. Some cards have multiple RAMDACs allowing that card to support multiple displays.

TV-out

Some graphics cards provide the choice to attach a television via either a composite (RCA) or S-Video connector. TV Out

S-video Out

S-video In and S-video Out (VIVO)

YPbPr Connection for HDTV

DVI

Some graphics cards include a connector for DVI monitors, handy because lots of LCD screens support DVI. DVI offers better image quality than the quality VGA connector.

Dual-head

Dual-head may be a term used when two monitors are used side by side, stretching your desktop across both.

SLI (Scalable Link Interface.)

With SLI you'll be able to couple two graphics cards in your computer, enabling each card to require half the rendering thereby doubling the performance.

When considering your graphics card, it pays to give some thought to what proportion you would like your computer to process your graphics output. employing a high end graphics card with a high pixels per clock rating, large memory, fast processor and other features means you'll be able to run the most recent games efficiently, or add intensive graphics development.

Available models

While there are many vendors of graphics cards, there are literally only two major manufacturers of chips for graphics cards. Nearly every graphics card on the market features a chip manufactured by either ATI or Nvidia. Cards using the identical graphics chip will perform roughly the identical as one another. However, while they use the identical chip, some feature slightly higher clock speeds, similarly as manufacturer guaranteed overclocking-an even higher clock speed than that specified. Other factors that may influence your decision should include the number of memory a card has (128MB, 256MB, 512MB) and its additional features, like TV-Out and dual-screen support.