A graphics card is a hardware component of a PC that consists of a printed circuit board with a graphics processor, VRAM, and some other units. It is responsible for displaying on the screen and rendering graphics. It is among the crucial components of a computer system, especially if you are interested in graphical workloads. Every system has a graphics card, even though many people think they don’t have one.
High-end systems come with a dedicated graphics card, while low-end systems offer a built-in graphics card. Graphics cards used to be present on the motherboard in the early 2000s, but after the release of Intel Core i-series processors, the built-in graphics card became a part of the processor. In order to provide a display, a graphics card is mandatory, even if it is a weak one. If you wanna know about repairs, you can check our article for graphics card repairs.
Alternative Names of Graphics Card
A graphics card has a ton of alternative names due to its wide uses. It is usually known as a graphics card or a GPU, although it is also called a video card, 3D card, display card, VGA card, etc. Nowadays, it is primarily called a GPU, which stands for graphics processing unit.
Are Graphics Cards and Video Cards the Same?
Even though both graphics card and the video card are the names for the same component, people often use the word video card for a built-in graphics card. A built-in graphics card is also known as iGPU, i.e. integrated graphics processing unit. The term ‘video card’ is becoming obsolete, as the term ‘video’ has a very narrow meaning in the world of graphics. You can also check our guide for no display with a new graphics card if you are interested.
Companies of Graphics Cards
There are three major companies that design video cards: NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel. NVIDIA and AMD have been designing dedicated graphics for decades while Intel has recently started designing dedicated GPUs. Intel is primarily known for its integrated graphics cards that you would find on Intel processors.
Latest NVIDIA Graphics Cards on the Market
The latest graphics cards by NVIDIA are based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, i.e., the RTX 4000-series GPUs. These graphics cards provide real-time Ray Tracing features, as they offer dedicated RT cores in combination with Tensor cores which are beneficial for AI and machine learning workloads. If you are ready for a purchase, here we have the best GPU for i7 12700KF.
Moreover, the CUDA core count of these graphics cards is much higher than the previous-generation graphics cards, which is why a significant performance improvement can be seen in this generation. The graphics cards also feature the latest gaming technologies such as DLSS 3.5 and Frame Generation, which are game changers in the gaming industry. The RTX 4090 is the flagship graphics card by the company, which is regarded as the best gaming graphics card of all time, although it comes at a super-high price. We have also described the complete anatomy of a graphics card, so check that for an excellent understanding of GPUs.
Latest AMD Graphics Cards on the Market
AMD, on the other hand, is featuring the RDNA 3.0 graphics cards in 2023, i.e. the RX 7000-series graphics cards, which are giving a tough competition to the RTX 4000-series GPUs. You do get the dedicated RT cores with these graphics cards, although there is no Tensor core here. In response to NVIDIA’s DLSS, AMD provides FSR technology, which is becoming better day by day. You can also check our guide for the best GPU for Ryzen 5 3600 in detail. The Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the flagship graphics card by the company, but it ranks somewhat lower than the RTX 4090 in both theoretical and real-world benchmarks.
Latest Intel Graphics Cards on the Market
Intel’s graphics cards are relatively new in the market, and the company is only providing budget offerings as of now due to high competition from NVIDIA and AMD. Here we have also ranked the best GPU for i5 13600KF. The Alchemist Arc 7 series graphics cards are the flagship models by the company that provide roughly the same performance as the RTX 2070 Super or RX 6600 XT, both of which are graphics cards from older generations.
