▷ How to choose a graphics card for your pc

Determining which graphics card is necessary to obtain with the purchase of a new computer is something that largely depends on the use that will be given to the new equipment, since different usage scenarios require different characteristics in the hardware. However, it is also important to consider if the motherboard can support the card, as well as what type of ports your monitor has available, since it is to the monitor where the graphics card will be connected. For example, it would be inappropriate to opt for the cheapest graphics card if you are a hard player, and it is not necessary to choose a high-power card when you only want to surf the Internet or stream videos on YouTube.

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Another factor that influences the type of graphics card to buy is the type of monitor you have. Since the graphics card connects directly to the monitor via a video cable, it is important to realize that not all monitors and graphics cards have matching ports.

What is the use that you are going to make of your computer?

Let's consider that there are four main categories you can fall into when it comes to PC usage and graphics card needs: casual computing, graphic design, light gaming, and hardcore gaming. Even if you don't feel like you belong in one of these categories, you can still find a useful graphics card for your PC.

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Casual computing, the most basic tasks

Casual computing can be explained as tasks related to using the PC for word processing, web browsing, watching videos, or listening to music. These are very common tasks that don't require a lot of video processing power. For this category of computing, any video processor option will work. It can be integrated into the computer system or be a dedicated card. The only exception to this is very high resolution video like 4K.

While many PCs can easily move a screen with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels or more without difficulty, some older integrated graphics solutions lack the ability to properly control a screen with new UltraHD resolutions. If you plan to use a high resolution screen, be sure to check the maximum screen resolution for any video processor before purchasing the PC or graphics card.

All of the solutions built into today's Intel and AMD processors offer hardware acceleration for non-3D applications. For example, Intel Quick Sync is a hardware engine found in most Intel HD Graphics solutions, it provides acceleration for video encoding. AMD solutions offer slightly broader acceleration for other applications such as Adobe Photoshop and similar digital imaging programs.

In the event that you have a processor without integrated graphics, such as the new AMD Ryzen, you must purchase a graphics card in order to use your PC. Models like the GeForce GT 1030 or the Radeon RX 550 will cover your needs for little money.

Graphic design

People looking to do graphic design or even video editing will want some more features on the graphics card. For graphic designs, it is generally a good idea to have a higher processing power. Many high-end displays can support resolutions up to 4K or UltraHD, allowing for more visible detail. To use such displays, you may need to have a DisplayPort or HDMI 2.0 connector on the graphics card. Check the monitor for requirements.

If you're not a gamer, then you might not be too concerned about your GPU's capabilities unless you use other types of apps that can directly make use of the special processing capabilities of a GPU. Examples include video editing, where a GPU can be used to speed up processes like video encoding and Computer Aided Design / Manufacturing (CAD / CAM) applications like AutoCAD, which can also use the GPU for significantly better performance.

Users of Adobe Photoshop CS4 and later can benefit from having a powerful graphics card to increase performance. At this point, the boost depends more on the speed and amount of video memory than on the graphics processors. It is recommended to have at least 2 GB of dedicated memory on a graphics card, with 4 GB or more preferred. Regarding the type of memory on the graphics card, GDDR5 is preferable to DDR3 cards due to its higher memory bandwidth.

In these cases we should opt for a Radeon RX 560 or a GeForce GTX 1050 as recommended graphics cards, they are still inexpensive and have good processing capabilities.

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Light gaming

When we mention games in the context of a graphics card, we are talking more about those that use 3D graphics acceleration. Games like Solitaire, Tetris and Candy Crush do not use 3D acceleration and will work well with any graphics processor.

For most people, gaming is the most intense graphical task that will ask your PC. It's no wonder, then, that serious gamers spend hours researching the latest GPU technology, and often upgrade their GPUs on a regular basis. As GPUs get faster, games are written to take advantage of the extra speed, and that pushes manufacturers to make GPUs even faster.

If you play 3D games once in a while or even on a regular basis, and you don't mind that it works as fast as possible or that it has all the features to improve the details, this is the card category you should look at. Cards in this category must be fully compliant with the DirectX 11 graphics standard and have at least 2GB of video memory (4GB or more preferred). It should be noted that DirectX 11 and 10 will only work fully on Windows 7 and later; Windows XP users are still restricted to DirectX 9 features. The latest version is DirectX 12, which is exclusive to Windows 10.

These users should look for a Radeon RX 560 or a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti as a minimum, since the cards lower than these will not have enough power.

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Gaming hardcore

Is your next PC programmed to be your best gaming system? Make sure you get a graphics card that matches the capabilities of the system. For example, it should be able to support all current 3D games on the market with acceptable image rates when all graphics detail features are enabled.

If you also intend to run a game on very high resolution 4K or multi-screen displays, then you should look at a higher-end graphics card. All performance 3D video cards must be DirectX 12 compliant and have at least 4GB of memory, but preferably more if you intend to use it at very high resolutions. It should be noted that if you are looking to add one of these cards to your current desktop, please make sure your power supply has adequate power to support the graphics card.

Many of these cards now also support variable display speed technologies, such as G-Sync or FreeSync, to smooth the image when playing a game. These functions currently require specific monitors and compatible graphics cards. If you are interested, you should make sure that your card and monitor are compatible with the same technology. All graphics cards currently sold by AMD and Nvidia are compatible, so you may only have problems if you buy a very old second-hand model.

In the case of hardcore gamers they will want the best of the best, in these cases the minimum recommendation is a Radeon RX 570 or a GeForce GTX 1070 or higher. The Radeon RX Vega and GeForce GTX 1080 / RTX 2080 are the most powerful on the market today.

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Specialized computing

While the primary focus of graphics cards has been 3D acceleration in video games, more and more applications are being used that are capable of accessing the enhanced mathematical capabilities of graphics processors, compared to traditional core processors. Currently there is a whole range of applications that are written to take advantage of the GPU's capabilities to offer better performance.

Today's GPUs are great for processing large amounts of image information and performing parallel tasks, making them incredibly fast, not only for displaying GUI text and graphics in windows, but also for rendering 3D graphics from today's advanced video games.. GPUs can also efficiently run other processes that involve manipulating a lot of data in parallel.

The most powerful graphics cards can be used to help process data in scientific research or other cloud computing tasks. They can help reduce the amount of time it takes to encode and convert videos, and it's even possible to use them for cryptocurrency mining like Ethereum, although this is becoming less and less profitable.

The problem with these specialized tasks is that the choice of the video card depends a lot on the programs that will access the card. Some tasks work best on a specific graphics card manufacturer or perhaps even on a specific processor model for a particular brand. For example, AMD Radeon cards are generally preferred for those who do Ethereum mining due to their improved hash performance. Nvidia cards, on the other hand, tend to perform better when it comes to scientific applications. Research any widely-used program before selecting a graphics card, to make sure you're getting the best option for your need.

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In these cases, you may need to opt for a graphics card focused on professionals, such as the Nvidia Quadro or the AMD Radeon Pro.

What kind of monitor do you have?

A graphics card doesn't do much good without a monitor, but your monitor may not be appropriate for some types of graphics cards. You may need to buy a different monitor for your graphics card, or the purchase of your graphics card is determined by the type of monitor you have.

The first thing to do when matching your monitor to a video card is to look at the back to see what connection ports there are. VGA ports are the most common, on older monitors, although in current models they are being neglected in favor of the most modern and advanced HDMI, DVI or DisplayPort.

Let's consider that your monitor is quite old and only has a DVI port and nothing else. This means that you need to make sure that your new graphics card is DVI compatible, or that you buy an adapter that can convert HDMI to DVI for example so that your monitor works with the new card.

The same applies to all other ports, we must always make sure that we can connect the graphics card directly or using an adapter. Fortunately, all modern graphics cards include HDMI and DisplayPort ports, so it will be difficult to find compatibility issues unless our monitor is very old.

Is your motherboard compatible?

The video card can be updated on most desktop computers, but exceptions occur when there is no expansion port available. Other than integrated graphics, the only other way to use a graphics card is to install it in an open expansion port.

Most modern systems have a PCI Express graphics card slot, also known as an x16 slot. There are several versions of PCI-Express from 1.0 to 3.0. Higher versions offer faster bandwidth, but all are backward compatible. This means that a PCI-Express 3.0 card will work in a PCI-Express 1.0 slot. Older systems use AGP but this has been discontinued in favor of the new interface.

Make sure you know what your PC uses before buying a new card to update your graphics. As mentioned earlier, make sure you know the power of the power supply, as this will likely determine what type of card can be installed. The best way to verify the hardware that can be used with a particular motherboard is to check the manufacturer's website for a user manual. ASUS, ASRock, MSI and Gigabyte are some of the most popular motherboard manufacturers.

The power of your power supply

The power supply is the component of the PC that powers all the others, including the graphics card. The most powerful graphics cards require a lot of energy to function, so it is not recommended to mount one of these next to a low-power or low-end power supply.

The graphics card may be the most energy hungry component in a modern PC. If you are planning an upgrade, you will need to be careful that the power supply is sufficient to account for the GPU you wish to install. GPUs also generate a lot of heat and require enough cooling to function reliably and with superior performance. Most graphics cards will include a recommended power supply size (in watts), and you'll also need to consider how much power the other components draw from your PC.

The combination of how much power a GPU draws and how much heat it generates is known as “Thermal Design Power (TDP), ” indicated in watts, and that's the measure you'll see in a graphics card's specifications. The higher the TDP, the more power is needed and the more heat the GPU produces. This can be important both on desktops and laptops, where the latter is the one that puts more restrictions on the available GPUs. Finally, it is also important to know what type of power connections a graphics card requires. This is typically a mix of six and eight pin connectors, which should be supplied in sufficient quantity by the power supply.

In the event that we want to mount a graphics card such as a GeForce GTX 1060 or a Radeon RX 570 or higher, we must have a good power supply of at least 500W, even more in the cases of Radeon RX Vega or GeForce GTX 1080 Ti / RTX 2080.

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This ends our special article on how to choose a graphics card, you can leave a comment if you have any questions or want to add some more information. Remember to share it on social networks so that you can help more users who need it.