The Time Has Come

[Thud]

...for me to get a new video/graphics card.
So I go and visit Nvidia.com and they have all these fancy numbers and things that I have no idea what they mean. Could one of you nice people please give me a link or describe what all those things mean like:
What is SLI?
What is a minimum graphics requirement?
What is a 3-pin mini din stereo connector?
What are Dual and Single link DVI's, HDMI's, HD out's, Analogs, displayports?

[Slotback]

What is SLI?

Scalable Link Interface (SLI) is a brand name for a multi-GPU solution developed by Nvidia for linking two or more video cards together to produce a single output.

ATI CrossFire (also known as CrossFireX) is a brand name for ATI Technologies' multi-GPU solution. The technology allows up to four graphics cards to be used in a single computer to improve graphics performance.

It means two videocards are linked together so it's faster basically. It has some special requirements, and is generally reserved for high-end gaming computers. I don't think you should worry about it.

What is a minimum graphics requirement?

Don't know what you mean, that is very ambiguous.

What is a 3-pin mini din stereo connector?

Don't know.

What are Dual and Single link DVI's, HDMI's, HD out's, Analogs, displayports?

I think you're over complicating things.

Do you connect your computer to a TV?

What kind of cable do you use to connect your screen to your computer?



Also, your computer requires a PCI-EXPRESS X16 slot to run a videocard, which is what the videocard inserts into. Does your computer have one? To find out, just tell us what model of computer you have, what the exact model of motherboard you have, or check your documentation, or open the case and check.

Any particular features you would like out of the card? (e.g. DX11?)

[Thud]

Thanks so much for replying fast!

What is SLI?

Scalable Link Interface (SLI) is a brand name for a multi-GPU solution developed by Nvidia for linking two or more video cards together to produce a single output.

[glow=yellow,2,300]OK[/glow]

ATI CrossFire (also known as CrossFireX) is a brand name for ATI Technologies' multi-GPU solution. The technology allows up to four graphics cards to be used in a single computer to improve graphics performance.
[glow=yellow,2,300]
no thanks[/glow]

It means two videocards are linked together so it's faster basically. It has some special requirements, and is generally reserved for high-end gaming computers. I don't think you should worry about it.

[glow=yellow,2,300]Yeah, I don't think I'll need that.[/glow]

What is a minimum graphics requirement?

Don't know what you mean, that is very ambiguous.
[glow=yellow,2,300]Like 256MB, 510MB, 768MB, 1GB, 4GB[/glow]

What is a 3-pin mini din stereo connector?

Don't know.
[glow=yellow,2,300]
OK[/glow]

What are Dual and Single link DVI's, HDMI's, HD out's, Analogs, displayports?

I think you're over complicating things.

Do you connect your computer to a TV?
[glow=yellow,2,300]Nope[/glow]

What kind of cable do you use to connect your screen to your computer?
[glow=yellow,2,300]I use a VGA input[/glow]


Also, your computer requires a PCI-EXPRESS X16 slot to run a videocard, which is what the videocard inserts into. Does your computer have one? To find out, just tell us what model of computer you have, or what the exact model of motherboard you have.
[glow=yellow,2,300]I'll get to that...[/glow]

[Slotback]

The amount of video-memory is only one part of the equation dictating how fast a graphics card is. Some very slow cards have 1 gigabyte of memory, some fast cards have 512mb. As a general rule you should get 512mb or more though.

[Thud]

Alright, do you think with my comp, 768mb would be enough? Or does it even matter what type of computer you have, as long as it's compatible?

[Slotback]

The amount of video-memory is only one part of the equation dictating how fast a graphics card is. Some very slow cards have 1024 megabytes of memory, some fast cards have 512 megabytes. What matters just as much as the amount of video-memory is how fast the graphics processor itself is, what features it has, and also the bandwidth of the video-memory. No, you should not be comparing graphics cards on video-memory, it does not change the requirements to run them, nor is it the main factor that influences performance. You should be comparing graphics cards on their actual speeds through their benchmarks and features.

The requirements your average user has to worry about is simply having a PCI-E slot and also having the power-supply to run the card. The 8800GTX for example requires two 6 pin PCI-E connectors. It is also physically a very large card. One must not only have a PCI-E slot, but the power-supply and a big enough case to run it.