Graphics card & GPU video card comparison - Versus (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between a graphics card and a GPU? ›

Graphics cards are not built into the computer itself; they are interchangeable cards. A graphics card comes complete with a GPU. The GPU is the main component on graphics cards. It exists alongside other components like video RAM (VRAM) for video memory, ports (such as HDMI or DisplayPort), and a cooling component.

Both the GPU and CPU are important, but the GPU has a more significant impact in most cases. Modern games are graphically demanding, and the GPU handles all graphics rendering and processing needed to display modern games.

Match your monitor resolution.

Many mainstream cards are sufficient for gaming at 1080p resolutions at between 30-60 fps, but you'll need a high-end card for 4K resolution or 1440p monitors, including ultrawide options. That goes double if you want to use high in-game settings on the most demanding titles.

Tools and benchmarks are programs that test and measure the performance and quality of your graphics card. They can help you compare different graphics cards based on their scores, ratings, or results. Some of the most popular tools and benchmarks include GPU-Z, 3DMark, and UserBenchmark.

You need a dedicated GPU for graphics-intensive gaming, editing video, and mining Bitcoin. However, for more general purpose use, such as web browsing, most work-from-home jobs, and more basic gaming, you can get by with CPUs with integrated graphics.

A clear sign you need to upgrade your graphics card is if you no longer receive driver updates for upcoming games. Most GPUs have a driver support life of around 5-8 years; any GPU beyond that time will lose support concerning performance for future releases.

While GPUs can process data several orders of magnitude faster than a CPU due to massive parallelism, GPUs are not as versatile as CPUs. CPUs have large and broad instruction sets, managing every input and output of a computer, which a GPU cannot do.

The amount of RAM (memory) is crucial. When you have more RAM than you need, the system bottleneck will be in the CPU or GPU. But when RAM is limited, the computer will likely start to depend significantly on the hard drive and cause massive slowdowns.

The fundamental difference between GPUs and CPUs is that CPUs are ideal for performing sequential tasks quickly, while GPUs use parallel processing to compute tasks simultaneously with greater speed and efficiency. CPUs are general-purpose processors that can handle almost any type of calculation.

For general use, a GPU with 2GB is more than adequate, but gamers and creative pros should aim for at least 4GB of GPU RAM. The amount of memory you need in a graphics card ultimately depends on what resolution you want to run games, as well as the games themselves.

What is a good GPU memory size? ›

Mostly 4GB or 6GB of video memory is sufficient for most modern games at 1080p resolution, while higher resolutions and more demanding games may benefit from 8GB or more.

For basic 1080p video editing, 6GB of VRAM is a good starting point. For 4K video editing, you'll want at least 8GB of VRAM. And for 8K video editing, you'll need at least 16GB of VRAM. Another thing to think about is the GPU core clock speed; the speed at which your graphics card's processor operates.

Both Nvidia and AMD make great graphics cards, but Nvidia is still in the lead. If you care about ray tracing, streaming, video production, or professional applications, Nvidia graphics cards are the better choice.

The most significant difference between the two is that a graphics card controls the quality of pictures, videos, and enhances gaming experience; whereas a video card controls the colors displayed, resolution, speed of rendering images, etc.

Best 4K Graphics Card for High-Refresh Gaming (Nvidia)

Without question, at the moment we wrote this, Nvidia's GeForce RTX 4090 is the single fastest graphics card that money can buy. Nothing else even comes close, with today's second-place cards trailing it by 30% to 40% in many benchmarks.

NVIDIA Multi-GPU Technology (NVIDIA Maximus®) uses multiple professional graphics processing units (GPUs) to intelligently scale the performance of your application and dramatically speed up your workflow.

While GTX GPUs can provide decent performance for certain data science tasks, RTX GPUs are better equipped to handle the demands of modern AI and deep learning workloads. Their enhanced compute capabilities, larger VRAM options, and improved compatibility make them the preferred choice for many data scientists.

In addition to speed and processing power, a suitable graphics card can also improve the visual quality of what is displayed on the screen. Modern graphics cards are capable of processing complex textures, shadows, and lighting effects that make games and movies look much more realistic and detailed.

The hardware is known as a computer graphics card (also called a video card, graphics device, display adapter, graphics processing unit, or GPU), and the software is called a graphics driver. Both are essential to making the images on your screen come to life.