Graphics Cards - reviews and price comparison

Price

When you are deciding how much money you are willing to invest in a new graphics card these price levels can be helpful:

• £ 0-50 Works perfect for Internet surfing, word processing, movies and older games.
• £ 50-100 You can play all games on highest detail level, except for the absolutely newest.
• £ 100-200 Even the newest games work properly on highest detail level and in fairly high resolution.
• £ 200-300 The newest games work also in the highest resolutions.
• £ 300- For you who want the best, no matter what it costs. These cards are almost equivalent to the ones in the level above, but somewhat faster (5-10%).

What is a graphics card?

(show answer) The graphics card is the component in the computer that shows the picture on the monitor. Many motherboards have a built-in graphics card. This is most often enough for common activities such as Internet surfing, word processing et cetera. If your computer doesn’t have a built-in graphics card the simplest and less expensive cards are enough for these areas of application.
If you want to be able to play the latest games or watch movies with the computer you need a separate graphics card with more power.
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Graphics processor, DirectX and 3D-games

There are two major graphics processor manufacturers; ATI and Nvidia. They combine their graphics processors (GPUs) with other circuits to a chipset. Chipsets from ATI and Nvidia are being used in graphics cards from a number of manufacturers.
If two graphics card share the same chipset they also have similar performance. They might differ in memory size and type (which also affects the performance), additional functions and accessories.

(Show more on graphics processors and DirectX) New graphics processors in different price ranges are constantly being introduced. For new models in various price ranges the difference is that picture, while playing games, is updated slower – it “lags” – with simpler cards, given that they have the same settings. In this case you must decrease the picture quality to make the game run smoothly.
If you buy a card of an older model it might not work at all with new games. This is because the games require certain functions from the graphics card. The most widely spread standard for which functions a card can handle is called DirectX.

Graphics cards that support DirectX 10 can handle all the new effects in the game, even coming games. The graphics cards that support DirectX 9 can run new games, but will lose in picture quality compared to DirectX 10-cards.
DirectX 7- and DirectX 8-cards can only handle the most basic effects and can not run the new Aero-interface in Windows Vista.
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If you want to be able to play the latest 3D-games and get the most out of the new games, you should examine the market more closely. Tom's hardware has an excellent graphics cards performance comparison. Choose a card near the top of the list for high performance.

Otherwise you should look up which version of DirectX your favorite game requires.

If you plan to install Windows Vista on your computer your graphics card need DirectX 9 or higher to be able to display the new fancy "Aero"-interface.

Connection

PCI-E (PCI express) has replaced AGP as the most common connection between graphics card and motherboard. It is important to check which connection your motherboard has, so that you purchase a graphics card with the same connection.

Monitor connection

Check what connection your monitor has and buy a graphics card with the same connection. If your monitor has both types or you are going to get a new monitor, the DVI port is to prefer since it gives the best picture quality.

DVI	D-sub/VGA

TV/video

Newer TV sets often have VGA or DVI inputs. If you want to connect an older TV to the computer the graphics card needs a TV-port. This can either be S-video or composite video. There are adapters for transforming S-video to composite and the other way around.

S-video	Composite video

If the graphics card has a video input you can use it to transfer material from a video camera to the computer.

HD-DVD and Blu-ray

To be able to watch movies in High definition, for example from Blu-ray or HD-DVD, your graphics card needs a DVI- or HDMI-port. There are adapters for DVI-HDMI.

DVI	HDMI

Cooling

If you want to build a silent computer, for example to use in the living room, you should choose a graphics card with passive cooling. Passive cooling means that the graphics card is being cooled without a fan. The fans usually make quite a lot of noise.

Rating/awards

On testwinner.co.uk all the different ratings given by expert testers have been translated into a percentage from 0 to 100 with 100 being the maximum rating.
The average rating for a product can indicate different things. A low average rating is a warning that the product maybe won't live up the expectations created by the ads for the product. A high rating often means that the product has great features and works well. The more tests of the product the better accuracy in the average rating.

The amount of test wins/awards shows how many times the product has been named winner or been selected "Editor's Choice", "Best Buy" or received similar positive awards in tests. An award means that the product stands out from the competition in one way or another. It can be by giving value for money or by being innovative, or simply by just filling its purpose in a really good way.