what should be the features of a good graphics Card?

C-Man

2012-02-23 20:31:42 UTC

You're doing it wrong.

You cannot accurately determine the performance of graphics cards simply by comparing numerical specs like the core & memory speeds, number of stream processors, memory bandwidth or amount of video memory, because the MOST important spec is the card MODEL.

It's very like processors, you can't pick the best CPU from a list by simply choosing the highest clock speed, number of cores, amount of L2 cache etc. There have been significant advances in processor design from both AMD and Intel over various generations. A 2.8Ghz Core i5 760 outperforms a 3.2Ghz Phenom II X4 955, and a Core i3 2120 outperforms the Core i5 760. Knowing whether a CPU is a Core i7 920, Phenom II X6 970, Core i5 2500K, Athlon II X4 645 or Core 2 Quad Q6600 gives you a much better idea of it's performance than any numerical specs.

AMD and Nvidia have completely different design approaches, so you can't simply go by the number of stream processors... the GeForce GTS 250 had 128 stream processors, but was slightly faster than the Radeon HD 4850, which had 800 stream processors!

For graphics cards, you must check reviews and actual in-game test results of various models (not just Passmark rankings) to know which models are better than others.

While it's generally true that a larger memory interface, higher clock speeds, faster memory type (GDDR5 vs GDDR3), more stream processors and more VRAM are better, that only holds true when all other things are equal. Some 128-but cards are faster than some 256-bit cards, some GDDR3 cards outperform some GDDR5 cards, But when dealing with cards of the *same model*, a GDDR5 version is better than a GDDR3 version.

As Brian has mentioned earlier, low-end cards may advertise "Hypermemory" or "Turbocache" - you'll want to avoid any models with such features (which simply steal some of your system RAM to utilize as extra video RAM).

All cards manufactured within the last few years will support DirectX 11. Since DX11 isn't supported under Windows XP, it's not a concern when picking a card for older computers.

brianthesnail123

2012-02-23 16:06:23 UTC

hi mate

there are several factors that make up a good graphics card and these include :

1) core clock .... this is the speed at which the gpu or graphics processing unit operates at... the higher the better... in todays standards you should settle for nothing below 700mhz .. however aim for 800mhz and above

2) memory clock.... this is the speed at which the memory operates at.... this is broken down into two values... theres the standard memory clock which is the actual speed the memory runs at.. and then theres the effective memory clock which is the speed of the memory once the memory type ( eg gddr3,gddr5 ) is taken into consideration.... for example a 1000mhz standard clock with gddr3 memory will be 2000mhz effective... however gddr5 memory at this standard speed will equate to a 4000mhz effective clock .....

3) memory interface .... this is calculated in bit width.... a good card will use a 256bit memory interface or higher.. however many of the latest cards can use lower memory interfaces such a 128bit since the superior gddr5 memory allows for superior memory clocks which makes up for the narrow bit width... however for optimal performance in games allways aim for a 256bit memory interface

4) stream processors/cuda cores.... basically these are small processors that can do all types of graphics calculations... for example a stream processors can do pixel,geometry and vertex calculations were before stream processors were introduced these were split up into seperate parts... for example a card like the old radeon x1950pro was a impressive card in its day and has 36 pixel pipelines and 16 vertex pipelines... however by seperating these it slowed down the speed at which these calculations were made... stream processors on the other hand can do any of these calculations as and when.. which is why modern cards are superior in every way ......

5) shader model/direct x .... these are found in all cards and will allways be the same... in that i mean a direct x 11 card will only support shader model 5.0 .... and a direct x 9 card will allways support shader model 3.0 .......each direct x api ( application programming interface ) .. will support new technologies ... for example direct x 11 supports tesselation which makes games much more life like

6) memory buffer... this is basically the amount of memory the card has... for example 1gb or 2gb .... however dont think a card with a 2gb memory buffer will be a better card than a card with just 1gb or even 512mb ..... ok the amount of memory a card has is important,especially if your running programs and games at higher resolutions ( 1920x1080 and higher ) .... but 1gb is generally seen as enough to cope with most of todays apps and games......

another technology which is used much less these days is "hypermemory" ... this is were a card has a dedicated amount of ram but can use a allocated amount of additional memory from the main system memory (ram) .... nvidia have a similar technology called "turbocache " and allthough you should try to buy a card with dedicated memory for less demanding apps these technologys can actually work quite well

there are many other features on a graphics card such as the pci-express x16 version... this is how fast data can pass through the pci-express x16 lanes.... for example most recent cards support pci-express x16 v2.1 ... however the latest radeon HD7970,s use v3.1

these standards are backwards compatible so a v2.1 card will run on a first generation (v1.0) pci-express x16 based motherboard and visa versa....

finally another feature which is more on the physical side of the card is the cooling.. many people forget about this when buying a new graphics card however a card may be fast and powerful but with a sub standard cooler its going to run hot and in some cases cause crashes and errors

look for a card that exhuasts warm air directly out of the case.... some cooler will draw the air both out of the case and also into the case... this can increase the interior temperture and afftect the cpu temperture......

anyway i hope this helps... any questions let me know

good luck mate !

?

2016-11-08 13:04:14 UTC

a extra constructive PCI vid card is the JATON 3DForce Geforce FX5700LE 128MB DDR PCI $86 *replace there is not any different PCI vid card which will pass previous the 5700 sequence, or any which could beat it. once you're stuck with PCI, then this card is choicest. The 5500 is a mainstream vid card at the same time as the 5700 is performance, you get quicker midsection/mem and a very upgraded FX engine.

?

2012-02-23 19:12:23 UTC

1. type of graphics memory like ddr2,ddr3 & ddr5 - always pick ddr5 for better gaming performance

2. no. of cores/stream processors (should look for more no. of cores for better gaming)

3. memory speed & clock speed (should look for more clock & memory speed)

4. amount of graphics memory like 512mb,1gb,2gb - for gaming 1gb is sufficient

don't buy graphics card which is having 64bit instead buy 128bit or 256bit which is always good

badhon

2012-02-23 03:24:15 UTC

Stream processor,

core clock,

memory clock.

There are the main factor.

Get a gddr5 and atleast 256bit card. If you would have mentioned your budget, it would be easier to suggest one.

?

2012-02-23 04:44:58 UTC

This depends on your budget. These specs start from HD 6670 DDR5 version for AMD Radeon and GTX-550Ti for NVIDIA.

?

2012-02-23 03:24:45 UTC

onboard graphics will only take you so far with applications on your pc such as, for games you will need a graphics card for high graphics in you games, but for the average user on board graphics will run windows and its features