10 Considerations for Buying a New Video Card

I get a good number of questions about which video card is best, and the answer always depends on what you want to use it for. Are you a hardcore gamer? Is price a huge concern? What kind of monitor do you have? The video card market moves so fast that it's difficult to keep up with all the new announcements and products unless you live and breathe this stuff.

Well, Gamespot has gone and made my job a whole lot easier with this "10 things you need to know about video cards" list.

Key points from the piece:

• Memory is important, but the GPU is more important. ATI and nVidia both make high-end and low-end cards, and just because it says "Radeon" on it doesn't mean you're getting top quality.
• Windows Vista will use a new version of DirectX, and your card will need to support it if you want to run the latest games at highest quality. However, DirectX 9 will still be supported for years to come, so don't feel like you need to rush and get a new card.
• New lines of cards arrive every 12 to 18 months, and prices are constantly falling. Don't feel you need to wait for the next generation to arrive before making a purchase.
• Those $500 cards are great, but a card at half that price will usually give you the best performance for the price.
• Graphics cards require their own power now. If your power supply can't put out 400 watts or more, you might need to upgrade it.
• "Integrated graphics": BAD!

The piece goes into much more detail and, of course, has four more tips. Whether you're just learning about video cards or actually planning to buy one, it's a good read.