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Graphics cards of the correct specification are essential for the performance of games, movies and other graphics-intensive operations that people use their computers for. This article contains a low-down on graphics cards and several tips on what you need to look for when buying one.
Graphics cards are responsible for generating images to be outputted to the monitor. As more and more computers are used for watching high definition movies and advanced gaming, the demands on graphics cards have grown exponentially.
Gaming graphics cards
Having the most powerful graphics cards is often essential if you want to enjoy the latest games and high definition content available. Modern graphics cards will have the following components mounted on a printed circuit board: Graphics Processing Unit, firmware and video memory.
Function of GPUs
GPUs are dedicated processors responsible for accelerating graphics and the generation of 3D and 2D images. GPUs may include RAMDACs which convert digital signals to analog ones for use by analog computer displays. Modern GPUs are highly sophisticated and rival CPUs in terms of processing power. The firmware or video bios are the programs that control the card’s operation.
Video graphics cards
Video memory is the multi-port memory that the GPU and display devices require. It ranges from 128MB to 4GB. While older graphics cards had VGA connectors, newer ones use digital visual interfaces to link with the display unit.
In addition, graphics cards may have S-Video, Composite video and Component video connections.
A more advanced connection is the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) which offers better quality transfer of data. Cheap graphics cards may be integrated into the motherboard, but they tend to have limited memory and use part of the system’s RAM. These integrated graphics are low performance and unable to meet the needs of more demanding applications such as 3D generation.
Solution
A dedicated graphics card will offer much better performance as it has its own processor and RAM, allowing it to operate without burdening the CPU. However, graphics cards generate a lot of heat as a result of the electricity they use. Heat sinks and computer fans must be used in order to dissipate the heat which may otherwise damage the graphics card.
If you want to play the latest games and enjoy Blu-ray movies, remember to buy a high specification graphics card for your computer.
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AMD Radeon R9 290X |
AMD Graphics Cards | ||
ATI Radeon R9 290X – 4096 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 12 reviews – 83 user opinions – 64 news – 24 forums – 1 video – 54 photos
Review: PowerColor Radeon R9 290X PCS+
Hexus —
02-2014
Taming AMD’s top-of-the-range Radeon R9 290X GPU is easier said than done, and we’ve seen partners achieve varying levels of success with custom-cooled and overclocked cards. With Gigabyte’s… Hide
Review: PowerColor Radeon R9 290X PCS+ | Read more
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£304 to £5,977
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AMD Radeon R9 280X |
AMD Graphics Cards | ||
ATI Radeon R9 280X – 3072 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 4 reviews – 371 user opinions – 15 news – 7 videos – 37 photos
Review: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X Overclocked Edition
Hexus —
10-2013
No sooner had AMD launched an entire stack of ‘new’ Radeon graphics cards , board partners have rushed to get products on to retailer’s shelves. The Radeon R9 280X, priced from $299, is very much… Hide
Review: Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X Overclocked Edition | Read more
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£304 to £5,977
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AMD Radeon R7 260X |
AMD Graphics Cards | ||
ATI Radeon R7 260X – 2048 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 3 reviews – 29 user opinions – 12 news – 8 videos – 10 photos
AMD Radeon R7 260X 2GB
DigitalVersus —
10-2013
The AMD Radeon R7 260X is little more than a rebranded Radeon HD 7790 that’s gained a few MHz on its GPU clock and boosted its graphics memory to 2 GB. It’ll need to come down in price a fair bit to… Hide
AMD Radeon R7 260X 2GB | Read more
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£255 to £5,977
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AMD Radeon R9 270X |
AMD Graphics Cards | ||
ATI Radeon R9 270X – 2048 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 4 reviews – 216 user opinions – 16 news – 8 videos – 34 photos
AMD Radeon R9 270X 2GB
DigitalVersus —
10-2013
There’s nothing really new about the Radeon R9 270X, which above all seems designed to help AMD line itself up more effectively against the competition. In absolute terms, it’s still a decent card… Hide
AMD Radeon R9 270X 2GB | Read more
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£924 to £5,943
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Gigabyte GV-N780OC-3GD |
Gigabyte Graphics Cards | ||
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 – 3072 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 71 user opinions – 18 photos |
£53
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nVidia GeForce GTX 760 |
nVidia Graphics Cards | ||
nVidia GeForce GTX 760 – 2048 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 3 reviews – 238 user opinions – 43 news – 209 forums – 3 videos – 51 photos
Review: Nvidia GeForce GTX 760
Hexus —
06-2013
Those folk over at Nvidia sure know how to wring the most out of a particular graphics processing unit. The current Kepler architecture, first seen on the ageing GeForce GTX 680, has now been… Hide
Review: Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 | Read more
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£70 to £555
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Zotac GeForce GTX 780 AMP! Edition |
Zotac Graphics Cards | ||
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 – 3072 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 3 reviews – 6 videos – 4 photos
Review: Zotac GeForce GTX 780 AMP! Edition [Updated]
Hexus —
09-2013
Editor’s note: HEXUS readers may be getting a sense of déjà vu, and rightly so. Our Zotac GeForce GTX 780 AMP! Edition review was originally published on September 10, 2013, and concluded that, while… Hide
Review: Zotac GeForce GTX 780 AMP! Edition [Updated] | Read more
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£137 to £430
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AMD Radeon HD 7790 |
AMD Graphics Cards | ||
ATI Radeon HD 7790 – 1024 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 6 reviews – 150 user opinions – 4 news – 34 forums – 2 videos – 37 photos
AMD Radeon HD 7790 1GB
DigitalVersus —
03-2013
The AMD Radeon HD 7790 meets its primary goal, which is simply to rival the competition. But the price will have to drop quickly. If it doesn’t, the point of this card’s existence will be debatable. Hide
AMD Radeon HD 7790 1GB | Read more
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£304 to £5,977
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nVidia GeForce GTX 780 |
nVidia Graphics Cards | ||
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 – 3072 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 16 reviews – 424 user opinions – 132 news – 19 forums – 9 videos – 127 photos
Nvidia aims its big guns at AMD’s Hawaii-based Radeon R9 cards
TechRadar —
11-2013
Recommended award There’s no getting away from it, this is the graphics card we’ve been waiting for since we first heard about Nvidia’s Kepler GPU architecture. The GTX 780 Ti is simply the most… Hide
Nvidia aims its big guns at AMD’s Hawaii-based Radeon R9 cards | Read more
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£70 to £555
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Asus GTX760-DC2OC-2GD5 |
Asus Graphics Cards | ||
nVidia GeForce GTX 760 – 2048 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 121 user opinions – 5 videos – 5 photos |
£65 to £380
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nVidia GeForce GTX 770 |
nVidia Graphics Cards | ||
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 – 2048 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 6 reviews – 145 user opinions – 41 news – 27 forums – 6 videos – 91 photos
Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 2 GB
DigitalVersus —
06-2013
With speedy performances and an effective cooling system, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 breezes its way to a five-star review. However, we can’t help feeling that Nvidia could have done more with this… Hide
Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 2 GB | Read more
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£70 to £555
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Asus GTX780-DC2OC-3GD5 |
Asus Graphics Cards | ||
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 – 3072 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 1 review – 132 user opinions – 1 video – 20 photos
Review: Asus GeForce GTX 780 DirectCU II OC
Hexus —
07-2013
A trio of Nvidia’s 7-series GPUs arrived in quick succession just a couple of months ago. For the most part, two of these GPUs – GTX 770 and GTX 760 – were newer takes on existing 6-series designs. A… Hide
Review: Asus GeForce GTX 780 DirectCU II OC | Read more
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£65 to £380
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Gigabyte GV-N760OC-4GD |
Gigabyte Graphics Cards | ||
nVidia GeForce GTX 760 – 4096 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 64 user opinions – 16 photos |
£630
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nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost |
nVidia Graphics Cards | ||
nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost – 2048 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 8 reviews – 148 user opinions – 17 news – 40 forums – 11 videos – 35 photos
Review: Palit GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost OC
Hexus —
04-2013
AMD and NVIDIA finished March 2013 locked in a battle for mainstream graphics-card supremacy. The red team brought out the Radeon HD 7790 only to be followed, days later, by the GeForce GTX 650 Ti… Hide
Review: Palit GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost OC | Read more
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£137 to £430
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AMD Radeon HD 7990 |
AMD Graphics Cards | ||
ATI Radeon HD 7990 – 6144 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 6 reviews – 16 user opinions – 50 news – 26 forums – 9 videos – 14 photos
AMD Radeon HD 7990 review
PCPRO —
04-2013
Blazing speed, but this dual-GPU card is too expensive for all but the most extreme of gamers Hide
AMD Radeon HD 7990 review | Read more
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£304 to £5,977
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Gigabyte GV-N770OC-2GD |
Gigabyte Graphics Cards | ||
nVidia GeForce GTX 770 – 2048 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 101 user opinions – 2 videos – 20 photos |
£630
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nVidia GeForce GTX Titan |
nVidia Graphics Cards | ||
nVidia GeForce GTX Titan – 6144 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 9 reviews – 67 news – 35 forums – 11 videos – 11 photos
Review: AMD Radeon R9 290X vs. Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan at 4K
Hexus —
10-2013
Just yesterday, we found out that AMD’s new champion graphics card, the $549 Radeon R9 290X , gave Nvidia’s GeForce GTX Titan a very good run for its money. Heck, in some games it took the Titan’s… Hide
Review: AMD Radeon R9 290X vs. Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan at 4K | Read more
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£75 to £873
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Palit GeForce GTX 770 JetStream 2GB |
Palit Graphics Cards | ||
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nVidia GeForce GTX 770 – 2048 MB – PCI Express x16
1 review – 2 news
Palit offers three custom GeForce GTX 770 cards
DV Hardware —
30/05/2013
Palit delivers three GeForce GTX 770 graphics cards. The firm offers two GeForce GTX 770 JetStream cards, with 2GB or 4GB GDDR5 memory and a triple-fan cooling solution, and a reference-clocked model… Hide
Palit offers three custom GeForce GTX 770 cards | Read more
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£140
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eVGA GeForce GTX 780 SC w/ ACX Cooler |
eVGA Graphics Cards | ||
nVidia GeForce GTX 780 – 3072 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 1 review – 320 user opinions – 28 photos
Review: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Superclocked ACX
Hexus —
05-2013
As you know, we’ve been impressed by Nvidia’s newly unveiled GeForce GTX 780 . So much so that we’ve named it our favourite enthusiast card . Sure, it’s pricey at £550 , yet it does deliver… Hide
Review: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Superclocked ACX | Read more
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£247 to £353
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Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 Vapor-X 3GB |
Sapphire Graphics Cards | ||
ATI Radeon HD 7950 – 3072 MB – PCI Express x16
![]() 82 user opinions – 2 videos – 13 photos
SAPPHIRE TECHNOLOGY Radeon HD 7950 Vapor-X- 3 GB GDDR5 – PCI Express 3.0 (11196-09-40G)
Pixmania —
01-2013
One of few cards on the market that lets you play Metro 2033 in full HD and on ultra high details! Speeeedddd!!! Performance!!! Memory! Price!!!! Power hungry Hide
SAPPHIRE TECHNOLOGY Radeon HD 7950 Vapor-X- 3 GB GDDR5 – PCI Express 3.0 (11196-09-40G) | Read more
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£26 to £166
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