All prebuilt laptop computers come fitted with a graphics card. To some users, the graphics card is one of the most important components in a computer; to others it’s not a decisive factor. But what is a graphics card?

A GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) creates the images you view on your computer, without this card you wouldn’t be able to visualise anything on your screen. The images created can range from the simple lines used to create a folder, all the way up to 3D gaming programmes. The more powerful (and expensive) your graphics card, the more visual capabilities your computer can perform.

There are two types of graphics card available;

  • dedicated
  • integrated

A dedicated graphics card is a separate chip containing graphics memory, therefore not drawing any power from the computer’s memory as an integrated card would. For better graphics performance, a dedicated card would be advisable when purchasing. But remember, it’s currently not possible to upgrade a laptop graphics cards after purchase as it will generally be fixed to the motherboard.

Before buying your computer, it would be well worth thinking about the long term graphical requirements for your machine. If your sole intention is to send emails and browse the internet, then an integrated graphics cardshould suffice. But if you’re planning world domination through one of the many visually spectacular online games, to optimize you’re enjoyment a dedicated GPU will enhance you’re gaming pleasure without any of the memory drawbacks. This is also advisable for anyone wanting to handle graphic intensive tasks like video and photo editing.