Graphics Cards, Why Choosing The Right One Matters

Imagine being in the midst of a captivating orchestral performance, surrounded by an eager crowd of fellow attendees. The musicians on stage are poised, instruments propped and ready. The conductor, an essential figure in guiding the collective efforts of the orchestra, steps forward with the baton raised and all of a sudden, freezes in place. The musicians, lacking direction and communication, lose their synchronization, and the harmonious collaboration dissipates, denying you and the other attendees of the transformative experience that only a well-directed orchestra could have delivered.

Just as a conductor orchestrates a seamless unity and sublime performance amongst diverse musicians and instruments, a graphics card plays a comparable role in the realm of computer graphics. In the same manner, the conductor brings together different musicians and their instruments to create an enchanting symphony, a graphics card harmonizes diverse elements of computer graphics to bring digital visuals to life.

The Graphics Card

The graphics card, a fundamental part of computer graphics and gaming since the late 1970s, has undergone evolution to meet our growing demands. Some key advancements include the introduction of 3D graphics, the integration of ‘transform and lighting’ (T&L), support for multiple displays, and the adoption of technologies like ray tracing and real-time rendering. While many people utilize graphics cards daily, not everyone may feel at ease discussing the pivotal role it plays in enhancing our technological experiences.

In layman’s terms, a graphics card serves as the powerhouse that makes sure the visuals on your computer screen look realistic and vibrant, whether you are engrossed in an immersive game, diligently working, or just enjoying multimedia content. For those of us who regularly work with videos, a high-quality graphics card becomes even more essential as it significantly impacts the quality and speed of our video editing and rendering processes, enabling smoother and more efficient workflows.

At its core, the graphics card has the main objective of processing, rendering, and displaying visual data and is responsible for generating and presenting those images and videos to a display. It takes away the task of graphics processing from the CPU (Central Processing Unit) and utilizes different dedicated hardware components with specialized algorithms to achieve higher-quality graphics. There are primarily two types of graphic cards, integrated and dedicated.

Integrated Graphics Cards

Integrated graphics cards, built directly into the computer’s CPU or motherboard, utilize the system’s memory for graphics processing. This makes them well-suited for general tasks, like web browsing, streaming videos, or performing light resource-consuming work such as editing documents or presentations. They provide a cost-effective solution for users with basic computing needs and those who prioritize power efficiency over high-end graphics capabilities.

However, a key limitation of integrated graphics cards is their lack of upgradability. Given their in-built nature, they cannot be replaced or upgraded separately. This means that if you want to upgrade your graphics capabilities, you would need to replace the entire CPU or motherboard – a more complex and costly process than simply upgrading a dedicated graphics card.

Dedicated Graphics Cards

Dedicated graphics cards, also known as discrete graphics cards, are standalone hardware components designed specifically for graphics processing. Unlike integrated graphics cards, dedicated graphics cards have their own dedicated GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and VRAM (Video Random Access Memory) allowing them to deliver higher performance, faster rendering times, and better visual effects. The dedicated GPU is optimized for graphics processing allowing complex calculations and operations to be executed more quickly and precisely.

The dedicated VRAM gives high-speed memory access, allowing for the storage and retrieval of large amounts of data needed to render complex graphics. Having its own dedicated GPU and VRAM means that dedicated graphics cards can handle more demanding tasks such as gaming, 3D modeling, video editing, and other graphics-intensive applications more efficiently. Popular examples of dedicated graphics cards you might be familiar with include those produced by NVIDIA and AMD.

NVIDIA and AMD

NVIDIA and AMD are two major manufacturers of GPUs and CPUs. NVIDIA, well-known for its GeForce graphics cards, caters extensively to gaming and professional applications. On the other hand, AMD offers Radeon graphics cards that cater to gaming enthusiasts, content creators, and professionals. AMD GPUs are known for their competitive pricing, favorable performance-to-price ratio, and efficient power usage. Conversely, NVIDIA offers a wider range of high-end options, advanced features, and robust software support. Beyond GPUs, AMD also manufactures CPUs under the Ryzen brand, which has gained a lot of popularity for its multi-threaded performance and affordability. The choice between NVIDIA and AMD typically depends on specific requirements, budget, and use cases so it’s recommended to compare benchmarks, features, and pricing to determine the best fit for your requirements.

How to Check What Graphics Card is on Your Windows Computer

To check your graphics card on a Windows machine, you can follow these steps:

• Press the “Windows” key on your keyboard to open the Start menu.
• Type “Device Manager” and select the “Device Manager” app from the search results.
• In the Device Manager window, expand the “Display Adapters” category by clicking on the small arrow next to it.

You should see the name of your graphics card listed under the “Display Adapters” category. It may include the manufacturer’s name, such as NVIDIA or AMD, followed by the model number of the graphics card.

Why You Will Need a “Good” Graphics Card

Your choice of graphics card will greatly depend on the tasks you need to perform and the level of performance quality you desire. Tasks like pro gaming, content creation, virtual reality, and video redaction require a high-end graphics card for optimal performance. Let’s talk specifically about video redactions; when it comes to video redactions, a high-end graphics card is crucial due to the strict rules and regulations that demand quick processing times for removing sensitive information from requested videos. While a basic graphics card can get the job done, a more advanced option will execute the task quicker.

CaseGuard Studio is a great example of a redaction software that can work with or without a graphics card. It is able to redact video, audio, images, and PDF, which is an impressive list, especially when considering most redaction software can only handle/redact a single type of file. While CaseGuard can operate optimally with a high-end graphics card, it also offers the flexibility to schedule tasks to run in the background if you are using a less powerful card. In any case, the most efficient choice for this all-in-one redaction software lies in using a strong graphics card.

The Important Technical Details

The performance and capabilities of graphics cards are determined by several key components: the GPU’s architecture, core count, clock speed, memory type, and capacity, as well as its cooling and power delivery systems.

At a technical level, the GPUs architecture performs complex calculations, with key components including memory levels, instruction pipelines, APIs, and streaming multiprocessors, which house the processing cores. Each core in the GPU’s core count, also known as CUDA cores, is responsible for executing calculations – the higher the count, the better the computational performance and enhanced ability to handle demanding workloads.

The clock speed refers to the operating frequency at which the GPU’s cores run – the higher the clock speed, the faster each core can process instructions, arming your GPU with quantity and speed as well.

The type of memory used and the width of the bus are related to the GPU’s memory subsystem, affecting the technology utilized in the memory modules and the number of channels available for data transfer between the GPU and its memory.

Finally, the cooling and power delivery system provides multiple fans and robust heat dissipation to maintain optimal cooler temperatures for consistent performance. The power supply is able to supply necessary electrical power to the graphics card using connectors such as PCIe power connectors in order to give the graphics card the power it needs to function.

Which Do You Choose

In choosing between Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 for video redaction tasks, particularly for long videos, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 would be a better choice. In this case, the “2070” and “3070” in Nvidia GeForce RTX represent the model number of the graphics card within the RTX 20 series or RTX 30 series. It signifies its relative performance level and position within the lineup, and in this case, higher model numbers generally indicate higher performance and more advanced features.