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Video cards - Quality
DrunkenW
Member Posts: 250
My knowledge of computer hardware needs an update therefore this discussion.
How exactly do we determine a cards quality by the name? most people seem to know how..
I fx. have a geforce 4 fx5500. Obviously i understand that 4 is better than 3 
but "fx" and "5500" is beyond me.
Also the name of the card - in this case "geforce" - what is this exactly? like a company or?
What card are you using, and why?
Which card is the best one the market atm?
And if you have the time - What does a graphic card do with the data?
Thanks in advance
-w
Comments
Well, usually if you goto the companys website that makes the Chipset for the video card one will find the newest version, and if you do some research by looking into the specifications of the video card you can pretty much figure out which is better than the other.
Newest video card by ATI is: http://www.ati.com/products/RadeonX1800/index.html
Newest video card line by Nvidia is: http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_7800.html
Also it would be wise to look at reviews for said video cards that one is interested in. Such sites as http://www.tomshardware.com/, and other such places.
What a graphic card does with the data is essentially process all video commands such as Directx, Opengl, shader commands, and all the polygons that should be drawn on the screen. It then sends the video to the monitor to be displayed. It also processes the textures that are used on the 3d models. If the video card receives over the amount of data it can process the main CPU of your machines takes over the stuff the video card cannot handle until it can, therefore lowering your FPS.
If I got something wrong please feel free to correct me, but that pretty much sums it up.
ok this is basic
geforce or radeon or anything else like that- the basic layout of the gpu, forgot what its called exactly (ill edit when i remeber)
its like a template for a gpu, they build up from it, improving it
the single digit number or letter(s) - means what generation of the layout (or the thing explained above) it is - what build it is - newer nvidia cards dont have this the higher the number the better.
the number after that- the higher the number the newer it is in its generation
anything after that- just extra, like say the cheapest is version of a card is a 6600 but a 6600 GT may have more ram built in or the core clock and memory timings are better, it all varies in what endings they have.
Example: ATI Radeon x 700 pro
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
1 2 3 4 5
1.gpu desighner but not manufacturer
2.the layout of the chip
3.what generation of the the one before or number 2
4.what version in its generation
5. better than the x700 (different ending mean different things
and its too much to list 1 by 1 which type of each is better
it might be alittle confusing but when i remeber what the first thing is called exactly ill update this and it wont be so confusing