How to Choose a Good Computer Graphics Card for Video Editing

You have two main computer graphic card choices in making your decision for video editing. Your choice will depend on whether your motherboard has an AGP slot or a PCIe slot and it is important that you determine the difference prior to making a purchase.

Step One – Determining Your Requirements for Video Editing

Consider your present and future editing plans in order to determine the sophistication and detail you need for your video projects.

Step Two – Determining Processing Speed

Determine the processing speed of the card. A High-level graphics card generally processes data at a rate between 500 MHz and 1 GHz.

Step Three – Determining the Memory Size

Determine the size of the memory required to support the graphics operations of the card. A video editing card requires between 256 MB and 1 GB of memory. 

Step Four – DirectX 9.0

A graphics card that supports DirectX 9.0 is vital for all video editing. Be sure the card you choose supports it. 

Step Five – Determining Driver Requirement

Determine the drivers required for video editing. Choose a graphics card that will support all drivers. 

Step Six – Comparison Shop

Compare the prices of high-performance video cards, both online and in stores considering all of the features and the versions available before you make your purchase.