5 Advantages and Disadvantages of Graphics Card | Drawbacks & Benefits of Graphics Card

What is Graphics Card ?

A Graphics card is a device that renders images so that it can display output in the monitor screen. The primary function of a graphics card is to render graphics.

What is the use of Graphics Card ?

Back in earlier days when computers were used for basic purposes there was actually no need for a graphics card. But since the trend of computer gaming kept on increasing there was a massive demand for a graphics card. Games today require tremendous amount of graphics that cannot be provided by integrated graphics alone ; of course the most important component for any gamer is a graphics card.

Apart from gaming having a graphics card is definitely advantageous in other works too. Especially for the purposes of graphics editing. However these cards are not without disadvantages. It is important to consider both pros and cons before thinking of installing a graphics card.

In this article, let's look at the 5 Advantages and Disadvantages of Graphics Card | Drawbacks & Benefits of Graphics Card. Through this post, you will know the pros and cons of using a graphics card.

Let's get started,

Advantages of Graphics Card

1. Performance

A Graphics card tends to increase the system performance to a greater extent. It has its own Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) which does the work of graphics processing. Therefore, it does not depend on the CPU for its functioning. A CPU with less load means that it can impact the whole system performance.

2. Gaming

The main purpose of graphics card is to allow playing graphically demanding games. Al though most of the computers today comes with integrated graphics, they won't be able to handle games today. Even if it is able to do so, you have to run it in lowest settings possible. Hence, the best option will be using a dedicated graphics card. Using a graphics card users can enjoy playing games with decent frames rates without any problem of lagging.

3. Memory Usage

A computers builtin graphics card shares a part of system memory for their functioning. If a dedicated graphics card is in use, it has its own memory thus freeing up memory from the computer. Additionally these memories are much faster than the system memory.

4. Video Experience

Besides gaming, a graphics card can definitely enhance your video experience. Especially while watching HD and Blu-ray movies. Moreover video editing too can be done in greater accuracy. It has its own resources to process and compress videos.

5. Driver Support

Whenever there is a new games released for users upgrade their operating system, most of the dedicated graphics card does contain better driver support. The graphics card manufacturers tends to release new drivers time to time, so that users can download them from the respective website.

Disadvantages of Graphics Card

1. Cost

Graphics cards generally expensive depending on the model. Higher the price, grater the performance of card will be. Even some laptops with dedicated graphics cards are more costly than integrated graphics.

2. Speed

Whenever there is high resolution and colors, there is always a performance effect. This is because the system needs to deal with more informations. Due to this, the texts and icons can appear much smaller.

3. Overheating

As mentioned earlier graphics card consume more power. Hence, enormous amount of heat is generated which overheats the gpu. However for countering this most of the graphics cards comes with 1-3 fans. These fans can cool down the gpu to some extent.

4. Weight

Computers, particularly laptops become bulkier and heavy if it is having a dedicated graphics. It is almost impossible to find ultra thin laptops today with powerful graphics card.

5. Power Consumption

A Graphics card consume more power than any other device on your computer. It throughout does many processing and calculations which requires lots of power. Therefore, it draws more power from the Power Supply Unit.