The video card is among those components that bear the main burden in the process of a computer game. To make the right choice, you need to have an idea of the types and varieties of video adapters.
What you need to know
Before presenting the main recommendations, it should be noted that they are all designed for a user who knows how the computer works and what kind of card he needs. Namely: what type of card the computer motherboard supports. From the point of view of the bus type, two types of video cards are now common - PCI and AGP. However, it is quite difficult or even almost impossible to find a PCI gaming video card in today's market.
If you are looking for a budget model with an AGP bus, then you can take a closer look at cards with DDR memory. When choosing such cards, it is important to pay attention to the high value of the DDR memory type index. The higher the value of the numerical index, the more modern the video card. It should be noted that recently the graphics equipment of games has stepped far ahead and it is not recommended to purchase video adapters with the DDR memory type for games, since their performance by modern standards will be low.
The large amount of DDR memory is one of the baits for the uninformed user, as it is widely believed that the more memory, the better the video card. In reality, the performance of a video card mainly depends on the video chip. One of the key parameters is clock speed. It is by this characteristic that one should be guided in the first place. The higher the clock speed, the higher the performance of the card. Actually, this determines whether the game will "freeze" or not.
Another important parameter is the bus clock speed. This characteristic, like the video chip parameter, affects the performance of the adapter. Volume - as noted above - is not the most critical thing when choosing a video card. The volume is needed to store the information data of the game application directly in the video card for the convenience of processing. The volume does not directly affect performance. It would be a mistake to choose a card based on its volume data.
Which manufacturers are the best
The rating of the most famous manufacturers of gaming video adapters for several years now includes one and those brands - these are Asus, Sapphire, Gigabyte, ATI, Zotac and some others. In the continuing competition, buyers are the winners, as manufacturers must increase productivity and lower prices to gain market share. According to market research data, good video adapters are produced by Asus and Gigabyte today. At the same time, many experts especially mark Asus products for reliable, powerful and almost silent cooling systems.
Very good models are also produced by Sapphire - a manufacturer with a beautiful name, which has well-established itself in Russia. At the same time, do not forget that the video adapter market is very dynamic. New advanced solutions are introduced almost every year. Therefore, when choosing a video card, you should focus on performance and cost, and not on the brand of the microchip manufacturer.
