Read This Before You Rush Out And Buy A New Graphics Card
Upgrading your computer system often starts with a graphics card upgrade but as prices vary immensely you need to ensure you buy the right one.
Do You Want To Play The Latest Games
Initially it is a good idea to take a step back before making a purchase and ascertaining the level of upgrade that would be most suitable i.e. are you an ardent games player. Find out whether the majority are in 2-D or in 3-D
If most are older games then it could be a waste of money buying a mid to expensive card for a variety of reasons. Remember that the CPU speed is the variable that you’ll need to consider the most. Take care here before you buy anything. Buying a powerful new card may be in vain if your processor is simply not up to the task.
Not All Cards Are The Same
You may not be aware but people are often caught out by the different card slot types available, simply put if you get the wrong one it will not fit in your system.
Depending on your mainboard there will be a choice of suitable card types; PCI, AGP and Pci-e
Is There Enough Memory In Your Computer?
Often doing a graphic card upgrade will also require a computer memory upgrade too!
Graphics cards will be available with different gpu’s and varying amounts of memory, and if your computer only has a small amount of onboard memory then you will run into a big snag as you will have insufficient on board ram to support your system devices and installation will either fail or your computer will end up slower than before.
Does Your Computer Have Enough Power?
Bigger cards draw more power from your computer so you need to be aware of this as well, the older the power supply the smaller it may be, and it may only be around 200w or there abouts, so depending on if you have already added additional hardware to your system, this may over strain the supply which can make your computer very unstable indeed. Also don’t forget thatmany of the new breed of graphics cards may need an additional direct power connection so check your cabling before purchase and buy a splitter if your need one.
Is My Case Suitable?
Even some PC tech’s forget about this one as case design does vary from manufacturer to manufacturer or depending on the main board manufacturer, graphic card space may have not been a major consideration when the board was designed so a newer card will simply not fit!
The new generation of cards often have multiple GPU’s or large amount of memory so the tend to be a lot longer than previous cards. With newer cards working a lot harder they tend to generate a lot more heat so onboard cooling has been increase. This tends to lead to a thicker card as well so you may need to move other Pci cards to accommodate a larger graphics card.
A graphics card upgrade is worth the effort but you do need to take account of the above considerations, but if you mainboard is based on the older AGP graphics standard you will more than likely be better off buying new if graphics performance is what you require.
