Don't get caught out buying a bad graphics card!

A computer is made up of a number of components; if just one of these is underpowered, it will hold the others back. You could have a great graphics card but if your processor can’t keep up, it’ll create a ‘bottleneck’, limiting the card’s performance.

If you bought a PC a few years ago that wasn’t specifically for gaming, it’s likely the graphics system is built-in to the motherboard. It may be reasonably capable, but a separate card will undoubtedly walk all over it.

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Expert tip - Buying a PC

Jack Hoxley, DirectX MVP

“Lots of video memory is advisable as there are now many more consumers of this precious resource; 256MB is sufficient, but with offerings up to 768MB it’s worth considering higher. If you’ll be playing games then DirectX 10 hardware should be your focus.

There is an increasing choice of compatible hardware across all prices and AMD is soon to unveil its competing line-up, so waiting a short while may be more sensible.”

However, before you dash out to buy a graphics card, you’ll need to check your motherboard is compatible. A few years ago, the way a graphics card communicated with your PC was changed to a standard called PCIe. If your PC is more than a couple of years old, it may use the old standard, AGP. If that is the case, don’t panic – many modern cards are still released for AGP, enabling you to enjoy many of the latest games.

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If you only use your Windows Vista PC to watch the occasional movie, play family-based games and browse the internet, there’s little point in handing over £300 for a top-end card.

Nevertheless, any upgrade will offer improvements in many different elements of Windows Vista. If your PC isn’t capable of running Windows Aero or behaves erratically when moving windows and using Flip3D, it will benefit from an upgrade. Similarly, if you’re experiencing a frame rate of less than around 30 frames per second in games, upgrading to a card more suited for gaming will make the action less jerky.

It’s worth pointing out that a new graphics card won’t just be quicker at drawing a flat image on your screen – it’ll be capable of rendering techniques that your old card couldn’t even understand.

This means that an upgrade won’t just increase your frame rate – it’ll add a much higher level of detail and create, for example, realistic smoke and fog effects.

One more thing to think about is the graphics system your card supports on a hardware level. Windows Vista introduces version 10 of Microsoft’s graphics system DirectX.

This allows noticeable differences in image quality compared to DirectX 9, though if your card is only DirectX 9 capable, the advantages over the graphics system in Windows XP will not be that great.

If you want to see more improvements you’ll need to invest serious money in a top-end card. Currently, Nvidia’s 8800 series is the only range to support DirectX 10 on a hardware level, though ATI (owned by AMD) is poised to follow suit.

We Recommend

Sapphire Radeon X1650 Pro 256MB

An excellent mid-range card at a great price, the X1650 Pro offers a lot of the features of its big brother, the X1950. Don’t expect to play the latest games at high resolution or with the details on maximum, but if you have a 19-inch monitor, or smaller, this will serve as a worthy upgrade.

Price: £67 (dabs.com) | Web: www.sapphiretech.com

HIS X1950XT IceQ 3 Turbo 256MB

If you have a large widescreen monitor, you’ll need a card that can handle the high resolution. ATI’s X1950XT chipset is one below the top-end X1950XTX, providing only slightly less power for a lot less money. You can expect to play the current generation of 3D games with near-maximum settings.

Price: £155 (overclockers.com) | Web: www.hisdigital.com

Club3D GeForce 8800GTX 768MB

The first native DirectX 10 card, the 8800GTX supports the new Windows Vista graphics features, providing a near-perfect gaming experience. Be warned – this card requires a colossal 320W to operate, which may mean an expensive power supply upgrade, though if you can afford this card in the first place, that shouldn’t be a problem.

Price: £359 (komplett.co.uk) | Web: www.club3d.nl