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Questions tagged [graphics-card]

An expansion card inserted into a motherboard for rendering graphics with enhanced performance over integrated graphics solutions.

A graphics card, or video card, is an expansion card inserted into a computer motherboard used to render graphics and designed to provide enhanced graphics performance over integrated graphics solutions such as Intel HD Graphics. This enhanced performance is enabled through a high-performance graphics processing unit (GPU) and dedicated, high-speed video memory which avoids bottlenecks associated with shared main memory. More powerful graphics cards can also drive several monitors at once.

Modern graphics cards connect to motherboards using the PCI Express (PCIe) interface. These cards have replaced those that use the older Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) interface.

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Why did my graphics card explode?

How did my graphics card "explode" like it did in the picture I have here? And if I was just plugging into my on-board graphics, why wouldn't the PC boot up like it normally would? It wouldn't come up until I opened the cover and removed the card,…
C-dizzle
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Why are graphics cards upside-down?

This is something that has always bugged me - when I install a card into a desktop (ie mini tower) case, the fan is always facing down. Surely, making the card so the components and fan is on the top would help a lot with cooling, allowing those…
gbjbaanb
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Are different brands of the 'same' graphics card better than other brands of that same graphics card?

I've been doing a lot of browsing of different computer parts recently, and I noticed that many different brands make the 'same' graphics card (e.g. radeon 280), and sell them at different prices. Is there any advantage to buying a more expensive…
Jon
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Can someone explain the naming of the different graphic card models?

Can anyone explain the naming of all the different graphics card models? This question comes after reading an answer for another question at the Gaming StackExhcange site. Which made me wonder about the performance differences between models of the…
SgtOJ
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Can I disable the external graphics card without taking it off the motherboard?

I have an external NVidia graphics card and wanted to check if one of my softwares which I'm developing would work without a graphics card. Instead of having to pull out the card, I wanted to know if there's a way to temporarily disable the card…
Nav
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What is "switchable graphics cards" in laptops?

I'm looking around for laptops and I've seen some "switchable graphics" in the graphics cards. What does this "switchable" apply to? Before anyone points out this question: What is switchable graphics? I'd like to mention it doesn't actually answer…
KdgDev
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White corrosion on videocard

I have White corrosion on my video card, how is it possible that the corrosion gets there, is this because of bad materials? Can this impact the lifetime of my card?
Laurence
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How to tell if a graphics card supports two monitors?

I am looking for a quiet, low-power, budget video card that supports two 24" monitors (1900 x 1280?) for a Windows XP system (PCI and PCIe slots). In particular, I find it hard to tell whether a graphics card supports two monitors. Apparently…
dfrankow
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What is FB and VID usage in Asus GPU tweak

I'm currently ironing out the kinks on a new system build, and trying to work out the best settings for various games I run. I'm running an Asus GTX 660, and it comes with a piece of software called GPU Tweak, which amongst other things, gives me a…
Journeyman Geek
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How Can I Assess The Quality Of a Graphics Card?

When finding a new graphics card, what figures or features do I look at when comparing two graphics cards? Dual cores? Clock speed? etc
ell
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How can I enable EGA graphics in Windows 3.0 on an 8086?

I'm currently resurrecting an ancient Amstrad 5086, containing an 8MHz Intel 8086 cpu, the classic 640kB of ram, Windows 3.0 and EGA graphics. Unfortunately, I only seem to be able to run Windows with the CGA-Monochrome driver, as far as I can find…
Thief
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Video cards and PCI-e slots

Do all PCI-e video cards require a PCI-ex16 slot to work? If not, what video cards don't require a full speed x16 slot? Note: I'm referring only to new video cards, I am not talking about old AGP or even older PCI cards, only cards that use the…
Faken
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Multiple graphics card outputs?

It's been some time I've actually brought a graphics card and it appears the day when they came with 1 or maybe 2 if you wanted VGA connectors has passed, with most offering DVI-I and HDMI 1.3 and in some cases no VGA output. So the question is, if…
Fire Lancer
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Benefits of metal backplate on graphics card?

I read some reviews on new graphics cards and presence of a metal backplate was considered a benefit, however there was no explanation why that is a plus? As I see it, the only benefit is physical and dust protection and possibly general sturdiness…
Petr Abdulin
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I set a frequency too high for my monitor. How can I get it back to normal?

I have a Geforce 8500GT on my PC, and I made the stupid mistake of setting it to a higher frequency than my monitor can manage. It boots up and it shows me this… and that's all. I can't do anything. The thing is that I think this video board is a…
ChristianM
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