2002 Buyers' Guide Inside The Box: Graphics Boards
What matters: Budget cards let you play most games at moderate resolutions, but die-hard gamers should opt for more power.Alexandra Krasne
Graphics chip and board makers update their hardware every six
months, mainly as a response to consumer demand for more-complex,
more-realistic PC games. Titles based on Microsoft's DirectX 8 application
programming interface are the most recent spur to upgrade; such games are just
appearing now, after almost a year and a half of anticipation. But games aren't
the only reason to get a new graphics board. A new card from Matrox, the
Parhelia, offers support for up to three displays, and ATI's
All-in-Wonder Radeon 8500DV
provides FireWire (IEEE 1394) ports, a wireless remote control, and S-Video
connections.
Top 10 Graphics Boards (chart)
Key Features
Graphics processor: Over the years, graphics processors have taken on more and more of the graphics load from a system's CPU. The graphics processors on today's boards can efficiently handle impressively sophisticated full-motion 3D video that would stump even the most powerful unaided CPU.
Integrated graphics chips typically run at clock speeds of about 166 MHz. Midrange chips, such as those in ATI's Radeon 7500 or NVidia's GeForce4 MX series, run at about 200 to 250 MHz; top-of-the-line cards have chips that run from 270 to 300 MHz. For our October issue, we're testing boards with even faster clock speeds. But don't base your buying decision solely on clock speed: It's only one of many factors that affect performance.
Budget graphics cards, like those based on NVidia's GeForce4 MX chip, do an excellent job with older games at lower resolutions but fall off at higher resolutions (1600 by 1200 at 32-bit color). Most people can't discern differences in frame rates higher than 60 fps; however, boards that can produce faster frame rates at a midrange resolution will typically sustain playable frame rates at higher resolutions, and usually can handle more-complicated games. To play DirectX 8 games, you'll get the best performance from a chip that supports DirectX 8 hardware acceleration; NVidia's GeForce4 Titanium (Ti) and ATI's Radeon 8500 chips are solid choices. Other manufacturers, such as SIS and Matrox, are getting into the game with their own DirectX 8 cards as well.
Memory: When you perform such graphics-intensive activities as playing games and editing video, the information necessary to display images is buffered in RAM on the card (unless you're using integrated graphics, in which case images are stored in main memory).
Integrated graphics chips reduce the amount of RAM available to the rest of the system. Less-expensive computers with lower-powered CPUs, such as Intel's Celeron, often have integrated graphics subsystems. Though PCs that use integrated chips do an acceptable job with typical business applications, most lack the extra memory necessary for 3D gaming, so they aren't suitable for playing any but 2D games. And they often omit an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) slot for holding an upgrade card; if a system does have an AGP slot--designed to provide a fast graphics interface to move 3D data between your graphics processor and main system memory--you can generally disable the integrated graphics and insert a more-powerful graphics add-in card.
Integrated chips are evolving, though: NVidia's NForce system chip set integrates a GeForce2 MX graphics chip and, in many cases, 32MB of dedicated memory. As a result, Athlon-based computers that employ the NForce chip are capable of handling multimedia tasks better than PCs using many other integrated graphics chips.
The more complicated the game or image you're viewing, the more video memory you'll need. Budget graphics cards typically come with 32MB to 64MB of DDR SDRAM, while more-expensive models offer 64MB to 128MB. For older games like Quake III, 32MB is sufficient. That amount isn't likely to deliver good image quality and high frame rates with new, advanced games or at resolutions above 1600 by 1200, however. For higher resolutions and more-complex games such as Comanche 4 or Unreal Tournament 2003, get a card with at least 64MB of video memory. And though most of today's games don't require more than that, you may want to opt for 128MB rather than face upgrading again when even more memory-intensive games arrive.
Some cards include extra features, as well as bundled hardware and software. The following are some of the more common options that board vendors offer.
Dual display or dual head: To connect your computer to a second digital or analog monitor or to a TV, you'll need a graphics card with extra ports and additional RAMDACs (chips that convert digital information to analog signals) to drive two--or even three--separate displays. If any of your monitors is digital, to connect it you'll need either a DVI-out port on the card or a DVI adapter.
S-Video-out/-in: The S-Video-out port allows you to send video signals to a TV, a VCR, or another entertainment device. The S-Video-in port lets you bring video into your PC from a camcorder, a VCR, or the like.
Composite-out/-in: Composite ports fulfill the same function as S-Video ports, and they are particularly handy for use with older devices that may lack S-Video ports. Many graphics boards that provide S-Video ports also include an S-Video-to-composite adapter cable.
Overclocking: Running a graphics processor faster than the manufacturer's specified speed is popular among PC tweakers and dedicated gamers. While this can squeeze a bit more performance out of a card, it carries risks such as overheating. Some vendors--Gainward is one--sell cards that have already been overclocked; some bundle overclocking software with cards. Be sure to read the manufacturer's recommendations and instructions before overclocking.
Antialiasing: Many cards offer full-scene antialiasing (FSAA), which smooths and softens the jagged edges of images. This feature is especially helpful when the board is running at lower resolutions. Enabling it can lower frame rates, though, so gamers must choose between smoother images and faster performance.
Recommendations
What Does Antialiasing Do?
Full-scene antialiasing (FSAA) softens the jagged edges that can appear at lower resolutions--where individual pixels are large--by blending pixels together to give the appearance of a smooth, high-resolution image. The two scenes below are both screen shots from NovaLogic's Comanche 4 game running at 1024 by 768 using 32-bit color; one image shows the game running with FSAA turned off, the other with it turned on.
