5. It's (almost) always a good time to buy
The fierce competition between Nvidia and ATI has rewarded us with a fast 3D technology development cycle. The GPU manufacturers release a new line of chips every 12 to 18 months, which results in a steady stream of increasingly powerful cards with more and more features. Manufacturers also tweak designs to increase clock speeds and add new features to refresh product lines several months after the initial architecture rollout. Since many new features are forward-looking, such as H.264 high-definition video acceleration and advanced Shader Model support, it might be a year or two before the actual content becomes widely available.
It's always a good time to buy if you don't have to get the best card available. Video card prices fall quickly since new product introductions constantly push older or slightly less powerful hardware into more affordable price ranges. The worst-case scenario is buying a high-end card right before Nvidia or ATI release a new line of GPUs, but even then, you still end up with a very powerful card that will have no problem running the games you want to play for a very long time.
6. You don't need to spend $500
The newest top-end cards ship at $500 or more, but you can always find several high-performance cards in the $200-$300 range. This price range usually offers the best performance for the dollar because it includes a mix of current-generation enthusiast-level cards as well as discounted high-end cards from the previous graphics generation.
Check out pipeline and clock speed specifications when comparing two cards from different technology generations. If the specs are roughly the same, go with the newer card since it'll have support for more advanced features. Newer chip architectures are also more efficient so you'll get more performance out of the same number of pipelines.
7. Do you have the power?
System power requirements have become a major concern now that video cards have grown into strong, power-sucking behemoths. Video card manufacturers print the power-supply recommendations on the side of the box. The printed number is often slightly higher than actually necessary since it accounts for poor power-supply quality and overloaded systems. Mid- to high-end single cards usually require a 400W or 450W power supply. Requirements for dual-card setups such as a CrossFire Radeon X1900 XTX configuration start at 550W.
8. AGP and PCI Express
Since its introduction two years ago, PCI Express has replaced AGP as the standard graphics slot in currently shipping systems. PCI Express offers two to four times more bandwidth than AGP, and almost all new video cards come in the PCI Express format. The GPU manufacturers throw a bone to AGP system owners once in a while with a new GPU like the Nvidia GeForce 7800 GS, but all the best equipment comes out for PCI Express first.
If your PC system is more than two years old, it probably has an AGP slot. Upgrading to PCI Express will be expensive since you'll need to replace the motherboard, CPU, and memory, but if your system is more than two years old, it might just be the right time to upgrade your entire PC anyway.
9. SLI and CrossFire
You'll also need PCI Express if you want to upgrade up to a dual video card configuration. Getting dual-card systems up and running (and showing performance gains) is a complicated matter. You need to have the right kind of motherboard, a compatible set of video cards, and a passable power supply.
Nvidia and ATI both offer competing dual-card formats, which require their own specific motherboards. Nvidia introduced SLI (scalable link interface) first in 2004, and has used the time since then to solidify the platform and even build up an SLI certification program for crucial motherboard, power supply, and memory components. You can pair two SLI-approved GeForce cards from different manufacturers as long as the GPU types match. ATI launched its CrossFire dual-card technology in 2005. As with SLI, CrossFire requires a CrossFire-enabled motherboard, quality memory, and a beefy power supply. Matching ATI cards is slightly more complicated because you need to pair a "CrossFire Edition" card with a "CrossFire Ready" card to get two cards working together. Check out our recent SLI vs. CrossFire Grudge Match feature to compare the cards' performance.
10. Make sure you actually get a video card
If you're buying a prebuilt system online, pay careful attention to the video card option. If the selection menu only lists "integrated graphics," close the browser window immediately and find another model that offers real video card options. Graphics built right onto the motherboard are fine for basic desktop applications like word processing and browsing the Web, but they aren't powerful enough for gaming unless you consider 15 frames per second at 800x600 acceptable performance.
Discuss your video card buying tips!
What do you look for when buying a video card? What video card upgrades are you considering right now? Enter your thoughts below. Feel free to comment on someone else's responses, but please stay on topic. We're talking about video cards here!
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