Buying Advice - Video Cards (desktop computers only)
The list of video cards available on NewEgg.com or TigerDirect.com is overwhelming, but we can help you choose the right card for your needs and your budget. Your choice in the matter is based off of your computing needs. Will you be importing and editing video? Will you want to play today's and tomorrows games with smoother frame rates and crisp graphics? Do you want the increased productivity of using an extra monitor but don't plan on playing high-end games? These are important factors to keep in mind.
How long ago have you purchased your computer? Your motherboard has a series of slots inside to accommodate add-on cards and video cards, From oldest and slowest to newest and fastest, here are the types of standardized slots to accommodate add-on cards (WARNING: slight tech talk ahead):
How long ago have you purchased your computer? Your motherboard has a series of slots inside to accommodate add-on cards and video cards, From oldest and slowest to newest and fastest, here are the types of standardized slots to accommodate add-on cards (WARNING: slight tech talk ahead):
- PCI - These slots are in some of today's computers for backward compatibility and allow you to add cards with extra USB ports, faster communications, connectivity to older hard drives, and more. There are no new video cards being made with this interface. Only old ones can be found and purchased on eBay or Amazon.com. The PCI interface was phased out by the newer and faster AGP, but PCI slots exist on new computers for non-video cards.
- AGP - These are faster slots, sometimes distinguished by their different color from PCI slots, but allow AGP video cards to be used. Similar to PCI, you will not find any new AGP video cards being manufactured and must therefore rely on eBay and Amazon for your selection of used AGP video cards.
- PCI-express (abbreviated as PCI-e) - These are the latest and greatest card slots and are ideal for video. There are slight variations on speed but all types surpass the speeds of PCI and AGP. If your board has a slower PCI-express slot and you'd like to use a PCI-express video card rated at a higher speed, the video card will still work!
Top to bottom:
PCI-Express (blue),
PCI
Some of the mid-range to high end video cards also have a separate power connector attached to them. This is due to the video card drawing more power from the system than what the PCI-Express slot normally provides. Computers purchased by Dell, HP, Compaq, Sony, Gateway, and others usually have a power supply rated to handle the power requirements of the included components and not much else. Those power supplies may not push out enough juice to power a video card, or it may not even have the extra connector needed to attach to the video card. Depending on your video card purchase, a power supply upgrade may be required for your video card to work.
Productivity is greatly increased when you utilize dual monitors, which is most cases can be used with just one video card. You can stretch your desktop across two monitors (left), and even stretch them with one monitor set vertically, which works out better for writers (right).
Productivity is greatly increased when you utilize dual monitors, which is most cases can be used with just one video card. You can stretch your desktop across two monitors (left), and even stretch them with one monitor set vertically, which works out better for writers (right).
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Click to enlarge
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Hardcore gamers also connect multiple cards of the same type together in parallel to combine the power for higher-end gaming. While this setup is useful and appealing, it is impractical and expensive for basic home usage. A motherboard upgrade is necessary if you'd like to run multiple video cards together.