Do You Need a Graphics Card for Gaming? Ultimate Guide for 2019

Do You Need a Graphics Card for Gaming?

This a detailed guide about the graphics card and our editors have explained in detail why do you need a graphics card for gaming. With a high-quality graphics card, you will have an awesome gaming experience.

Hello Fellas, my name is Josh Anderson and I’m a professional programmer for a multinational firm. And just like any other computer geek, gaming is my lifeline. My craving for video games is endless since I was a kid.

From SEGA or Atari to Gaming on Laptops or PC, I have witnessed the huge revolution of gaming development by myself. Honestly, it’s been a wonderful experience the way gaming has revolutionized.

New modern concepts of gaming are taking gaming franchises to whole new next level and making this industry one of the most profitable in the world. As per the stats only in 2007, a sum of 9.5 billion USD is been generated in this industry and now in the year 2018-19 it’s hitting the benchmarks of 43.8 billion USD.

It is still counting and moving upwards and it is insanely amazing. It is clearly challenging the other aspects of the entertainment industry.

Click here to read reviews: Best Graphics Card in the Market.

But with all of the new advancements, we also face some difficulties and as far as the digital industry is concerned, mostly a common gamer or user face technical problems.

Do You Need a Graphics Card for Gaming?

Yes, with the rise of quality and functionality of video games, we also need to meet the technical requirements which are getting higher and higher alongside. High resolution and specs require a highly modified or assembled PC to keep it clocking rightly. The demand for more realistic looking experience is increasing day by day. The pixels and resolutions of video games have created a need for using advanced hardware acceleration components.

As I’m a PC gamer and I like to keep it that way, to serve my desire of gaming, I also try my best to keep specs of my PC up to the marks of new gaming requirements, and it’s not an easy task. I keep on exploring the new and variant options to keep my gaming experience better with time.

I need to keep an eye on multiple new software enhancements like Direct X etc. and hardware updates like increasing the RAM and another most common component we hear is about adding a Graphics Card.

Now, what is a Graphics Card??

Graphics Cards are kind of like a CPU of your computer. It is like an additional component that boosts your PC performance in terms of rendering, high-resolution display and frees up the memory of your PC to run other tasks comfortably. It contains its own GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) RAM (Random Access Memory) and chipset that takes the load from your primary CPU and RAM and directly boosts the performance of your PC brilliantly.

But here one more Question arises,

What’s the purpose of my CPU and it’s RAM if I attached a Graphics Card with it?

Yours CPU and its particular RAM is still the most important thing as it is the main component, not the aiding component. And its performance and compatibility are the main keys to let Graphics Card work efficiently as per required.

Let us get this fact straight, a slower PC cannot gel up with a high-performance GPU and similarly, a Slow GPU is just a liability for a high tech PC.

So both things should be on a certain level to patch up accurately.

My personal opinion in this regard is that you must have at least an i5 Intel Quad Core Setup alongside with 4 GB of RAM to form good support with a reasonable Graphics Card. The more powerful, the more it is good.

Now basically there are two types of Graphics Card:

Integrated
Dedicated

Integrated ones are those who came built in with your CPU. It is commonly available these days and most new computers are supporting this feature to integrate a GPU already to facilitate the user and let the need of an external GPU away. It doesn’t use its own RAM, it uses your primary RAM in somewhat ratio, depending on the requirement of task you perform.

The main benefit of this that these are cheap in cost and it generates very much less heat. It is suitable for such people who perform graphical editing tasks daily and it also uses very less power and less power usage means improved battery life.

Dedicated ones are definitely a third party or separate units to fulfill the requirements of high-end games and graphical aspects. These are expensive in price but it is highly recommended to crazy gamers and professional graphic designers because these are unmatched in terms of performance. These are large in size; power consumption is high and definitely produces heat a lot in response.

There is also a hybrid type available that differentiates between regular tasking and high graphical tasks. It switches between integrated and dedicated ones as per the requirements. By cost, these are the most expensive because of mainly there switchable nature. Battery consumption is optimal but the battery can be optimized in dedicated ones by switching them off too.

Following is the easiest and simplest step by step guide to install a graphics card in your PC as follow:

Open the Case of your PC or Laptop; Remove the panel as the card sits near the motherboard.
Check the power supply is intact or not.
Always measure the space with a measuring tape so the card sits well in the system. Always measure the dimensions before buying the card so you don’t get in a problem later on.
After connecting, open the task manager, scan for hardware changes and install or update the drivers.
Power ON the PC.
Insert the Driver CD to install any required Data.
Start up a game or a high rendering task to see and feel the difference.

Talking about the Brands and Manufacturers, there are a lot of them and marketing wars will make you like hell confused about which one to buy and which one to ignore. Personally, all companies are brilliant but choosing the right product is up to you as you have to find and match the right component specs for your PC.

Best Selling Graphics Card with some reasons explained by users are as follows:

Nvidia GeForce GTX 2080 Founders Edition (High performance, Reasonable price)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Ti (Excellent performance, reasonable price but have issues with supply)
Radeon RX 580 8GB (Best by AMD company within budget)
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 (Cheapest in Market with the best performance)
AMD Radeon VII (Excellent performance, fewer features)

Let’s categorize the benefit s and disadvantages of graphics cards to understand the product more efficiently.

Below are the Brands and Manufacturers, best known for making Graphics Cards:

NVIDIA
AMD (Advanced Micro Devices)
ASUS
EVGA Corporation
Gigabyte
Intel
MSI
Sapphire Technology
Zotac
Via

Advantages of Graphics Card

The main objective and boost in the result can be seen in the gaming aspect. It enhances the gaming experience directly to the next level.
It takes the burden and pressure off the main primary CPU, allowing it to make room for general tasks. Graphics Card as we mentioned doesn’t depend on CPU, it possesses own GPU, which makes it self-sufficient to perform high-end task solely.
It is much recommended for users who use 3D modeling and editing programs, rendering programs, watching high definition videos, etc.
It frees up the RAM of your primary CPU and it produces a lot of difference for general tasking.
The manufacturer’s release driver and new software updates as well, which provides a vital key in keeping pace with newly released video games and latest operating systems.

Meanwhile, there are also some disadvantages to this component, so let us have a look at them as follows:

Cost, yes the cost of these cards are high and it is not in everyone budget.
The most annoying fact that the requirements and advancement of technology are so fast that within some weeks or months, you may find yourself behind in matching to the compatibility of various games and high rendering applications. So, Graphics Card is not the final or one-time solution.
Graphics Card consumes a lot of battery and energy. And such high consumption is parallel to high heat production too. So, you may need to buy external tools to keep your CPU and Graphics Card at a reasonable temperature.

Conclusion:

Well, after all of the above talk I believe that you people should have got a good idea of how this whole Graphic Card thing is about and how it works. My final words on this are that Graphics Card is all about your need. If you are an average user then you should remain away from this. Because it will be just a luxury for you. It will hit you by its price, power consumption and it is not for you if you don’t know or need to use it at its maximum.

On the other hand, if you are a serious gamer or a professional graphic designer then definitely you will justify its capabilities. It will increase the potential of your work and will maximize the results.

So, think and calculate very well before you make the decision.

Thank You

Team- What Laptops