How to Buy a Video Card For Your PC

Steps

1. 1
   Decide what you want and need to do with the video card. Video cards range broadly in price from as much as $900 for the latest and greatest to $30 for an entry-level card. To choose the right one, you need to know how you want to use it. Do you want to play all the very latest games at maximum resolution and full visual effects? If so, you will need to purchase a high-end card, usually $250 or higher. If you just need to display your PC screen on two monitors or drive a high-end DVI monitor or TV, you can purchase a lower-end card. Keep in mind that the cost-to-speed ratio steadily drops after the cards reach the $150 mark i.e the prices follow an exponential curve with the most economical (most bang for buck cards) in the middle or $200 range.
   
   
   
2. 2
   Know what type of slot you will be using. Video cards can plug into three different types of slots on your mother-board. In order of highest performance, the slot types are PCI Express, AGP, or PCI at the low end. If your PC is more than 5 years old, it may only have a PCI slot. Some PCs today have AGP slots; AGP cards are usually $10-$20 dollars cheaper than PCI equivalents and perform 2-4 times faster, but are now rapidly superseded by the PCIe standard. If you bought your PC recently, it may have the newer, faster PCI Express (PCIe) slot.
   
   
   
3. 3
   Choose a chip brand (the two most most popular being either ATI or nVidia). These companies make the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) that is on the graphics card, while another company will make the rest of the graphics card (memory, fan, VGA/DVI connectors). There are two leading companies that make the graphics chips that go into video cards. Many years back, nVidia was the leader in this space, but in the past four years AMD/ATI chips and drivers caught up with NVidia in terms of performance for price. Although, recently AMD/ATI has lost some ground again in some people's opinions. Either is fine, but it is really up to the user to research the specs for the particular card they wish to purchase. You can find reviews and descriptions of the leading chips and video cards available in all the major PC magazines online and in print. You can also go to manufacturer's websites, such as the one for Diamond Multimedia, for more information on the available video cards.
   
   
   
4. 4
   Choose a manufacturer. Many video cards are available from multiple manufacturers. Some examples are Diamond Multimedia, PNY, and ATI and nVidia themselves. Different manufacturers offer different levels of warranty and customer support as well as different game bundles depending on the product. Many cards go on sale from time-to-time, especially at back-to-school and holiday time so be sure to shop for the best deal.
   
   
   
5. 5
   Choose a way to purchase the video card. You can either buy it from a retail store (Circuit City, Best Buy, Wal-mart) or through an online store (such as newegg.com or pricewatch.com). Retail stores tend to mark up the graphics cards substantially! You can save a significant amount of money if you purchase online. If you choose a retail outlet, wait for the aforementioned markdowns and sales. As always, you can compare prices for most retail stores online.
   
   
6. 6
   Install the video card and enjoy your new accelerated graphics capability!
   
   
   

 Warnings

• High end video cards have auxiliary power connectors. These MUST be plugged in for the card to work. The 8800 GTX has two power connectors on it; if they are not plugged in a buzzer will sound.
• Be sure to choose a graphics card that matches the slot type you have in your PC. Before you buy, check out your system specification or documentation to see whether your slot types are PCI, AGP, PCI Express, or a combination.
• Make sure your power supply has the wattage to run the card. High end cards use a lot of power.
• When installing the graphics card, be sure to unplug the power supply! Removing or installing computer components while the computer has power (even though the computer may be shut down) can damage the computer, rendering the motherboard or other components useless