Notes on Video Cards

Outputs Interfaces

Entry level video cards will typically only come with an analogue (VGA) 15-pin output, higher specification cards will normally have an analogue 15-pin output and a DVI (Digital Video Interface) connector. If you would like an entry level card with both VGA and DVI connectors, or a higher spec card with two DVI connectors then please let us know as such options are normally available for a few more pounds.

Video cards also often have TV/S-Video outputs, again please let us know if you would like this feature. New top end cards are now also coming out with HDTV (High Definition Television Interface). If you need this then please advise.

More Product Information

For Nvidea based cards, it’s best to check out the Nvidea web site for more details on the chip-set features

http://www.nvidia.com/page/products.html

Details of ATI chip-sets are on

http://www.ati.com/products/home-office.html

Cards that are not listed on our pricing pages

If you would like a type of card that is not on the price pages then please let us know and we will give you a price. We can normally supply just about every type.

Performance etc

It is worth remembering that, just because one video card has a faster GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) or more memory than another it does not mean that you will see a difference for the type of application you are running. Even the most basic card we list will give very good results for office use, business graphics etc and higher spec cards only score for more complex graphic tasks. Generally it is only worth investing in an expensive video card if you are doing complex graphics, CAD, 3D work or anything that involves moving images. The extreme example is high speed 3D visualisation (including gaming), if this arena the more powerful the card is the better.

AGP v PCI-Express

The PCI-Express (PCI-E) 16X interface is faster than AGP. The AGP interface is however very fast and the PCI-E 16X interface was designed to cope with the future needs of high performance visualisation and streaming video. Hence, for most current users it is not likely to matter if the video card plugs into an AGP or PCI-E 16X interface.