Technical help #3: Graphic Card
By missak
@missak (3311)
Spain
June 29, 2007 7:20am CST
What types of graphic cards are there? What should be a good one for 3d rendering? What should be the cheapest/oldest that would support 3d design? What should I take into account about compatibility with the rest of the computer? How is a graphic card rated and what is the average?
1 person likes this
3 responses
@pallidyne (858)
• United States
29 Jun 07
Wow, that's more than a mouthful!
Current cards are based upon chipsets from two different companies. ATI and NVidia. All the other companies out there are just building on the architecture that these two have engineered. You can find lots of discussions here on myLot as far as which one is better than the other and notice that it's really a matter of taste and opinion.
Compatibility - This is completely dependent on what slots you have on your motherboard. If you don't know, look at your manual. If you still don't know, get someone who is computer hardware literate to look inside the machine.
Graphic cards are dependent mostly on memory for their processing, so the more memory on the card, USUALLY, the better the rendering.
As far as whats the oldest/cheapest that would support 3d design, please look at the software you plan on using to do so to find out the minimum requirements. Software is the main driver there.
1 person likes this
@filmbuff (2909)
• United States
29 Jun 07
Essentially the only two video cards you need to worry about are the ones made by ATI and Nvidia. They are the dominate forces in the Graphics card markets.
Both ATI and Nvidia will handle 3d applications, design, and rendering. The the faster the chips in them and the more ram, the better they will work.
When deciding what graphics card to go with, you need to first figure out what type of connection you have available on your motherboard.
The latest and greatest is SLI technology which lets you put in 2 graphics cards.
PCI express slots are in most newer systems, and they may or may not be SLI compatable.
Before that Computers used AGP slots to connect video cards.
Prior to AGP plain vanilla PCI slots were used. (Not to be confused with PCI Express)
Once you figure out if your motherboard has a PCI express, AGP, or a PCI slot for a graphics card, you can look into actually buying one that will be compatable.
It's also wise to make sure that your computer meets the minimum Power (wattage) CPU processing power and RAM before you buy a card that is more powerful than your current system can run.
Hope that helps. Any questions, let me know.
