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The Video Card
There are two companies that produce video cards, ATI and nVidia. ATI is owned by AMD. Many people who choose to build and AMD based system also choose an ATI video card. When you combine an AMD processor, video card, and motherboard you create an AMD platform system. Similiar to AMD processors, ATI cards are usually chosen for the price/performance ratio. nVidia is usually chosen for their raw power. Since you are building a new computer you want to make sure you choose ATI or nVidia’s latest series of graphics cards.
There are several factors that effect a video cards performance.
Type of Interface:
The PCI-Express x16 bus is the current standard. This standard replaced AGP. When first replaced the PCI-E bus could transfer data twice as fast as AGP.
RAM:
All video cards have RAM. The RAM does basically the same thing as the RAM you connect to your motherboard. It stores volatile (temporary) data. For a mainstream system that will be used for light simple games, word processing and other basic applications any old video card will do. In some instances you can use the integrated video card that comes on some motherboards. Be sure to check if your motherboard has integrated video if you are going to build a mainstream computer, you will save some money. For image manipulation, video editing, watching DVD movies, gaming, watching HDTV, or running CAD/CAM applications, more and faster RAM is needed. For these uses, you should consider an AGP or PCI-E card with at least 512 MB of fast RAM . For high-end gaming or video editing, 1024 MB or even 2048MB will be better.
Memory Interface (bit):
It is very common for video cards to be referred to via a bit size. For example, a video card will claim to be 32 bits, 64 bits or 128 bit. It refers only to how much data the video card can handle internally. It refers to the width of the bus between the video processor and the video memory, usually. The higher the bits the more data the video card can handle internally.
While a video card that is 128 bits seems like it would be twice the speed of one that is 64 bits (and the video card makers who produce these cards don’t do much to discourage this impression), in fact this bit width is only one factor in overall performance.
3D/OpenGL Support:
Open GL is the industry standard for high-performance video, and is supported on Windows, Mac, and Unix machines, as well as on many industrial and other specialized devices.
Cooling:
Most high-end and many mid-range video cards come with their own onboard cooling fans. This little feature can make a big difference when using the computer for video, gaming, or other graphics-intensive applications.
Aftermarket coolers are also available quite inexpensively for many video cards that don’t come with them.
SAMPLE BUILD:
Case: $68.99
Fans: $9.99
Motherboard: $138.99
Processor: $199.99
Video Card: $299.99
Total: $717.95
The video card I chose was a ATI Radeon HD 6970 with 2GB of GDDR5 RAM at 256-bits. This is the second fastest ATI card available at the moment and is about $100 cheaper then rival nVidia’s equivalent card. Note that this video card requires a minimum of a 550W power supply and an 8 pin power connector. When buying a power supply I’ll need to make sure it is above 550W and has an 8pin connector for the video card.
