A graphics card (GPU) is a key PC component that accelerates visual processing, delivering smooth performance for everything from everyday display output to demanding applications. It’s essential for gaming, powers many AI and machine learning workloads, and is widely used in workstation rendering, 3D design, video editing, and other GPU-intensive creative workflows. More Info for buyers.
The key factors to consider when choosing a GPU for gaming are your monitors resolution and the type of games you’re playing. If you know what games you want to play, you can usually find the recommended requirements on the games website or store page. Esports titles are usually not very intensive and can be run on entry level hardware. If you want to play more intensive Triple-A titles, or want to play Esports titles at higher frame rates, considering a mid to high-end graphics card will usually offer a better experience, especially with higher resolution monitors.
Workstation workloads can vary quite a lot, so there isn’t always one solution that suits all. In most cases, users that are video & photo editing will be able to gain performance benefits with everyday GeForce, Radeon or Arc Graphics Cards. Video Editing can depend heavily on the resolution of footage you’re working with and if you’re applying effects and colour grading. Heavier workloads can benefit from more VRAM, higher core and clock speeds. Rendering and AI workloads can benefit from workstation cards with more VRAM and some programs can take advantage of the ECC VRAM for increased reliability.
In many cases, if your CPU includes onboard graphics, Home & Office users may not need a dedicated graphics card. In scenarios where your CPU doesn’t have onboard graphics or you need to connect more display than your motherboard can handle, you can take advantage of adding a entry level dedicated graphics card to handle everyday tasks.
VRAM is the onboard memory your GPU uses to temporarily store textures, assets and high-resolution data. More is not automatically better, but too little can become a limit fast. VRAM can also be limited by the memory bus speed meaning 8GB VRAM on a higher end GPU can perform better than 8GB on a budget GPU.
Each brand usually offers a variety of the same models. Depending on the power limits of the graphics card, some brand may offer dual-fan and triple-fan versions, OC versions with a higher boost speeds. These cards can slightly improve performance but usually aren’t as beneficial as choosing the next series up of card. The best model and version of graphics card is to choose one that matches your budget.
Depending on the size and model of the GPU, graphics cards will usually come in single-fan, dual-fan or triple-fan options. As you look from entry level to high end models, you will notice the thickness of the cards increase to allow for larger heatsinks to help cool the more power hungry GPUs more efficiently. Some slimmer GPU models or models designed for small form factor are good options for small form factor cases, but will usually run hotter as a tradeoff.
Check the card you’re considering will fit in your PC Case. You can check this by searching the manufacturers website page for your case where they will usually display the ‘Maximum GPU Length’. You can also check the graphics cards dimensions in the specifications. Cards will also have different thicknesses which are measured in slots. 1 slot is the size of the brackets removed on the case. If you are using a Mini-ITX or Micro-ATX case with a larger card, be sure to make sure your case can fit the thickness of the card.
Make sure your power supply maximum wattage and includes the connectors you need to connect your graphics card. You can usually find the recommended wattage on the graphics card product page. Traditional graphics cards use 8-pin (some power supplies use 6+2-pin) connectors to connect to your graphics cards. Newer NVIDIA Graphics Cards include the new 12V HPWR connector allowing more power over a single cable. Many graphics cards with this connector include an adapter to the traditional 8-pin connectors. If you need this adapter make sure your graphics card includes this in the package contents.
All standard motherboards will include a x16 PCIe slot for your graphics card to connect to. Pairing a graphics card and motherboard with the same PCIe generation will offer the best guaranteed bandwidth for communication between your CPU & graphics card.
Each GPU manufacturer offers their own technologies and driver support. To be competitive, most of these brands have their own version of driver features designed to do the same thing. Where they differ, is the technologies their platforms are built around which can lead some brands to benefit over others for specific workflows.
Choose a GPU which suits your budget. If you’re building an entirely new PC for gaming, the GPU will be one of the more expensive parts in the system. Choose a GPU that is within your budget that also pairs well with your new PCs CPU to avoid bottlenecks. All 3 brands offer good entry level models but AMD and Intel usually offer slightly better price to performance which might allow you to add extra budget to your CPU purchase. If you’re looking for a good mid-range to high-end GPU, AMD and NVIDIA offer competitive models and features. Enthusiasts and users looking for the best performance will be looking at NVIDIA’s top of the range offerings.
It depends what you’re upgrading from and to. If you’re upgrading from a PC with a budget Processor and Graphics Card, upgrading your CPU is probably the best option to upgrade first. Then your system will be ready for a GPU upgrade. Upgrading the Graphics Card first in this scenario would likely be bottlenecked by the CPU so you likely won’t see huge performance differences. If you’re upgrading from a high-end PC with a modern processor, your CPU will likely be good enough to see the perform benefits of a graphics card upgrade first.
