Video Card

Can anybody help me with Video Cards?

What Specs should I be looking at?
I know GPU Type and speed are one.
I know how mutch VRAM you have is another.
I know the RES. it supports is another.

What other specs should I look at?

 

• What do you use your computer for? If general web surfing, Word documents, Facebook updating, email, etc. you really don't need a lot of horsepower.
• If heavy gaming, a powerful gaming card may be desired. But if into heavy CAD/CAE and graphics design, a "workstation" card may be better.
• How much money do you want to spend on it?
• If you have a SFF (small form factor) or "slim" tower case, you may need to look for a "low profile" card. The length of the card could be a factor with some very large cards and some smaller cases. With most mid tower cases, these are not issues.
• Power consumption is a big factor. It is not uncommon for the graphics solution to be the biggest power hog in our systems - eating up considerably more power than even the CPU. So when upgrading the graphics solution, it is not uncommon to need a larger power supply too.
• Double wide cards take up one slot in the motherboard, but two slots in the back of your case. This is often desirable for extra support with heavy cards, but also the double wide often use that extra space to exhausted heated air directly out the back. Otherwise, with a single wide slot, cooling depends on good air flow through the case. Not a problem with a properly cooled case.
  
• If fan noise is objectionable to you (I hate fan noise) a quiet fan may be something to look for. Typically large fans are quieter than smaller fans.
• Many cards require separate power connections directly to the power supply. So you may need to verify your PSU has such a cable.

 

A couple more questions:
What is your current graphics package?
What do you hope to improve?