Knowing the main characteristics of video cards greatly simplifies the selection process and allows you to purchase exactly the device that will satisfy all the necessary requirements of the user.
GPU clock speed
The clock frequency of the video chip is responsible for its bandwidth. Thus, the higher the value, the more pixels per second the GPU can process. Usually, if you choose a video card, for example, in a store, you can see two numbers on the price tag with units in megahertz. The smaller of them will just show the value of the frequency of the GPU.
Video memory clock frequency
The video memory bus frequency affects the memory bandwidth (hereinafter referred to as the memory bandwidth). And already the memory bandwidth directly affects the operation of the video card in 3D applications. Therefore, the higher the frequency, the more comfortable you will be when working with such applications. Its value will be indicated by the second, larger number, next to which is written MHz or MHz.
Memory bus width
Bus width is an important characteristic that affects memory bandwidth. The wider the width, the more data can be transferred in one clock cycle, which, of course, has a positive effect on the speed of the video card. The unit of measure for width is bit. It is not recommended to take video cards with 64-bit buses, if you want to comfortably immerse yourself in the world of computer games, this negatively affects their performance, it is better to choose at least 128-bit mid-range interfaces.
Video memory size
Another characteristic is the amount of the video card's own memory. On modern maps, it is measured in gigabytes. And this is where many users get confused. The fact is that video memory is used to store the processed data, which does not in any way affect the speed of their processing; the computer's RAM is used for the same purposes. Therefore, other things being equal, video cards with different amounts of their own memory will work the same. Of course, if there is enough RAM in cases where video memory is not enough.
Video memory type
Modern types of video memory allow to increase the amount of transmitted data at the same frequency. There are different types of them, but the most common are DDR, a double increase, and GDDR, a 4-fold increase. But this is not their only difference: memory types can also differ in power consumption and heat dissipation. For example, the main difference between GDDR3 and DDR2 is the amount of power consumed and the released temperature.
