Buy Laptops

6. Laptop Graphics Card

The importance of the graphics card in your laptop is directly related to the use you have planned for it.

Generally a high performance graphics card will only be required if you are either a games player or plan on using the laptop for graphics intensive applications.

Memory is important, whether it be your own when it comes to your wedding anniversary or the type that's in your new laptop! Unfortunately we cant help you with remembering your wedding date, but we can explain a little about the importance of memory in your laptop and how it relates to the type of graphics card you buy!

The first thing to know about memory, any memory, is the more the better, its not rocket science, its simple numbers, if you can have 1024mb (usually referred to as 1GB) of system memory instead of 512mb of memory then go for it, your system will perform better for it. The same goes for your laptops graphics card, a card that offers more memory is preferential.

Laptop graphics card types can be easily split into two categories, those that use the system's memory and those that have their own dedicated memory.

Shared Memory Graphics Cards

A shared memory graphics card on a laptop is one where the graphics card 'shares' some of the memory of the main system.

For example lets say your main system has 512mb of memory (RAM), a 'shared' memory graphics card would likely be setup to take, or 'share' 128mb of that total 512mb. Therefore, your main system has, in fact, only 384mb of memory for its own use because the son-of-a-gun 'shared' graphics card has taken 128mb for itself!

What does this mean for you I hear you say... well, as a general or average user, most likely it wont be of much consequence at all as the performance of your 'shared' memory laptop will be easily adequate for your requirements.

The users who should take more care in this area when choosing a shiny new laptop are those that will be using the system for gaming or intensive graphics work, such a 'shared' memory system will not be suitable at all for these types of users, if you fall into these categories then read on, as we tell you about the great benefits of graphics cards that make use of their own 'dedicated' graphics memory!

Dedicated Memory Graphics Cards

Unlike the 'shared' memory graphics cards discussed above that take, or borrow memory from the main system, 'dedicated' memory graphics card, as the name suggests, have their very own memory all for themselves, so no need to steal away important memory from the laptops main system.

The benefits of your graphics card having its own memory should be fairly obvious. Firstly your laptop will offer better performance because none of the system memory is being used for graphics, and secondly because the 'dedicated' graphics memory on your graphics card is optimized for use with the graphics card, again making it perform better than a card that takes 'shared' system memory.

A 'dedicated' memory card is a must if you will be using your laptop for gaming or graphics work, and whilst not essential, it would certainly be desirable (if you can afford the extra cost) for all other users too.

Conclusion

To sum up, if you are a gamer or will be using the system for intensive graphics work, a 'dedicated' memory graphics card in your laptop is what you need. Memory on laptop graphics cards can range from 32mb to 512mb and beyond, and the more you can get the better, and you probably shouldn't get anything with less than 128mb of dedicated graphics memory for decent performance from your laptop.

If you are not a gamer or heavy graphics user, than a 'shared' memory graphics card in your laptop is usually acceptable, but if you can pay the extra for a 'dedicated' card then you should as the general performance of your laptop will be improved.