What is a Graphics Card?

Last Updated : 08 Mar, 2024

Graphics card is a hardware which is used to increase the video memory of a computer, and make its display quality more high-definition. It makes the computer more powerful and gives it the capacity to do more high-level works. The quality of the image depends on the quality of the graphics card. It is very much important for gaming and video editing on a computer. Every game needs a graphics memory to start and it depends on the type of the game, and the requirements are mentioned on the game box.

Example

Acer predator - Nvidia GTX 1050 4GB Graphics Card.
Alienware 17 - Nvidia Geforce GTX 1070 8GB Graphics Card.

Both computers have a high power graphics card for better performance.

What is Graphics Card?

GPU stands for Graphics Processing Unit. The power of GPU depend on the model of the GPU. The graphics as an external component is attached on a slot known as an expansion slot. It is the brain of the graphics card and is what creates the visuals that we see on the monitor.

Types of Graphics Card

Integrated - The graphics which are built into the motherboard are known as Integrated, are generally used in most laptops, the cannot be easily upgraded.
Discrete - It is an external graphics card which is a hardware and added on a motherboard as an extra component. Most people may not need an external graphics card for their work on PC. Basic work like creating files, doing office work, watching movies, listing songs, etc may not need a graphics card. But for the users playing high resolutions games and video editing may need an external component i.e graphics card for their purpose.

Components of Graphics Card

GPU: Basically like a CPU, the GPU is a real piece of hardware in a system.
Memory: It also referred to as VRAM, the graphics card has memory allocated specifically to support the initial operations.
Interface: PCI Express, located at the card's bottom as per requirement, is used by the majority of GPUs in the system.
Heat Sink: To aid in the initial dissipating heat accumulation during use, every GPU has a heat sink and fans as well.
Power Connectors: Six- or eight-pin power connectors are very much necessary for modern GPUs to process; sometimes in the special cases, two or three are needed.
Outputs: A variety of useful video outputs are available in the system, frequently including HDMI, DisplayPort, DVI, or VGA as per requirement.
BIOS: The graphics card when the user turn off the system or computer, the BIOS saves the required data on voltages, memory, and other components. It also contains the initial basic setup and program information to process well.

Features of Graphics Card

Memory: Graphics card carries its own memory. Memory range could be from 128MB to 2GB of memory. We should buy a card with more memory. More RAM equals higher resolutions, more colors on the screen, and the best special effects.
Multiple Screen support: Most new video cards have the ability to connect two monitors to one card. This feature is very important for video editing and hardcore gamer craves that extra real estate as well. You can either see two separate Desktops or make the two monitors into one Desktop.
Gaming And Video Editing: The discrete graphics card is not only for a gamer but those who use high-end video editing software also get help as a high-quality graphics card to reduce the rendering time of an image also give a high-def environment.
Connection - The graphic card is connected to the monitor using many different ports put the port must be present on both monitor and Graphics card. These are some common ports used to connect graphics card with a monitor.
- VGA
- HDMI
- DVI

Some motherboards have more than 1 expansion slot so we can add more than one graphics card to make performance better. Many laptops nowadays come with an integrated graphics card in them.