Graphics Card

Graphics card

15 pin D-Type connector

A typical graphics card is pictured on the right, these are hidden inside the system unit and you only have access to the back panel where you connect your monitor using a 15 pin D-type connector also shown on the right.

Graphics cards convert what is in the computers memory into something we can understand so it can be shown on the monitor.

Tthe computer can only understand binary, (a series of 1's and 0's) and we as people find it difficult if not impossible to understand what a series of 1's and 0's could be, as an example, let's take the phrase ' this is binary '.

 

In binary, this would equate to:

011101000110100001101001011100110010000001101001011100110010000001100010011010010110111001100001011100100 1111001

Now, that doesn't exactly mean anything to me, (although it may do to you <LOL>) so, I would prefer to see the words , ' this is binary ' written on the screen.

The graphics card converts that into 'this is binary' and sends it to the monitor

Graphics cards now come with their own memory and processor (it is quicker for the card to access it's own dedicated memory) in order for it to work faster in lie with today's requirements, 3D graphics, streaming media (from the Internet), etc.

The main considerations when obtaining a graphics card would be:

The amount of memory it has, ie. 128 Mb, 512 Mb etc. I can't argue with the saying that more is good but it depends on ones requirements.

How fast it is Most, if not all cards these days are fast enough for anything we need

A TV connection do wish to connect your computer to a TV, (the card should have a TV out facility)

If this is a guide, I use a 128 Mb graphics card that I have had for ages and it plays 3D games nicely, works with any 3D graphics or models I create nicely, streams video off the Internet smoothly, (unless of course the stream supplied is of a low bit rate, a 500 Bit per second stream is smoother than 128 bits per second, 128 would just be too jerky and keep stopping while the buffer filled up again)