4 Things to Factor in Before You Buy a Video Card
Choosing an upgrade for your graphics card or video cards can be quite a daunting task if you’re not sure where to begin. Unless you’ve been keeping up with all the latest performance reports and GPU announcements, it can be difficult to know which graphics cards are going to be worth buying. Similar to processors and other components, GPUs do improve each year, meaning that there’s a huge selection of cards available to choose from.
Focus on the GPU
While other factors like memory are important, the graphics processing unit or GPU is the main part of the video card. When you are browsing through different graphics cards such as these at https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/faqs/intel/intel-graphics/, the most important thing to consider is the GPU type. This is because that chip is responsible for the 3D performance. It’s a wise idea to study a few performance guides for video first, allowing you to familiarize yourself with all the current models to see how they stack up against one another.
Memory Isn’t Everything
While you do need a video card that has a decent amount of memory if you want to play high-resolution games, bear in mind that it is not always the most important factor. A good video card will usually come with a lot of memory, as all the GPU power is going to be wasted if there’s not enough memory space to support it. However, manufacturers know that novice buyers tend to look at the memory amount as one of the main selling points, so you might get cards with cheaper GPUs and a lot of memory that’s simply not needed.
Your Budget
To get a decent video card, you will be glad to hear that you don’t always have to spend several hundreds of dollars. You can easily find high-performance cards for around $200-$300 if you know what you are looking for and where to look. In fact, this price range is often the best one to look into as it offers the best performance for your money, with a combination of discounted high-end cards from the previous generation, and mid-range cards available too.
Your Computing Power
Finally, it’s important to consider your system power requirements, as these have become a major concern now that video cards have grown to become stronger and more powerful than ever before. Before choosing the right video card for your PC, it’s important to check out the power supply recommendations, which will usually be printed on the side of the box. Often, this is higher than necessary to account for overloaded systems or poor-quality power supplies. Most mid- to high-end graphics cards will require a power supply of 400W or 450W.
Whether you are building a PC or want to upgrade your current device to be faster and display better graphics, there’s a lot to consider before you choose the right graphics card for your needs. The good news is that you don’t always have to spend a lot of money for the biggest and best video card for a good result.