Graphics Cards
Article by Matthew Kerridge
Graphics are a vital part of any computer. Without graphics or images, your computer would operate like an old DOS operating system – no pretty pictures to look at. The images on your computer screen are composed of tiny dots called pixels. Commonly, a screen displays more than a million pixels and the computer must decide how to display them to create an image. To accomplish this, the computer needs something to tell it how to transpose the pixels and turn them into something the human eye can distinguish. Unless graphics capabilities are built into your computer, it will need a graphics card. What the graphics card does is somewhat complex. It works in conjunction with graphics software applications to gather the pixels needed to create an image.
However, merely creating art work or printing pictures and being able to see images on your computer screen is only the tip of what graphics cards do. To a gamer the right graphics card is essential. Many factors must be considered when deciding which type of graphics card will fit your needs. Most graphics card currently available will operate nicely for 2D operations. If 2D is all you need, then look no farther than an inexpensive card. An integrated graphics card will probably be sufficient.
However, 3D graphics makes a difference to a serious gamer or graphic artist. The quality of a 3D card will greatly influence both the frame rate and the image quality of 3D programs and games. Pricing for this type of card can be quite high.
The ASUS EN280GTX TOP is the fastest single graphics card on the market today. This card should be capable of handling anything the gamer can introduce to it. Listing at 9.00, this is one of the most expensive cards on the market. Another high end card is the EVGA GeForce GTX 295 Red ED. Video Card – 1792MB. It greatly increases the capabilities of your CPU. At 9.99, it is on e of the most expensive cards on the market. Other top selling cards may be purchased as low as .00. Again, price is directly affected by the type of card. For example, the BFG GeForce GTX 280 oc 1GB PCLe 2.0 can improve the performance of your computer’s traditional CPU up to 7X, expanding your CPU’s graphics capabilities. This one sells for 9.99. At the low end of the spectrum is the Diamond Radeon HD 4650 Video Card – 1GB. It is a 2.0 CrossFireX (2) Dual-link DVT S-Video and sells for .99.
Graphics cards have evolved since IBM introduced the first one in 1981. Early cards only produced green or white text on a black screen. Today, the minimum standard for a video card is VGA which allows 256 colors. Thanks to high-performance standards, video cards can display millions of colors in resolutions of up to 2040 x 1536 pixels. So, when considering a graphics card, you need to carefully consider how much you want to spend as well as the capabilities of the card.
About the Author
Matthew Kerridge is and expert within the field of graphic technology. For more information about graphics cards please visit http://www.ebuyer.com/
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