The video card is the eyes of your PC. It is the part of the computer that your monitor plugs into. It obviously relays all of the image and graphic information from the motherboard to the monitor so that you can see what is happening!

     There are three main things to look at when purchasing a video card. The amount of memory or RAM on the card, the type of card (AGP, PCI, or ISA), and the brand name of the manufacturer (important here).

     The average video card now has about 32 MB of memory, but you can get cards with 128-256 MB of video memory. This memory is actually the same type as the RAM that we previously discussed, but it is dedicated solely to the video card to process images and not to the rest of the PC to run programs.

     All of the new video cards fit into an AGP slot (Advanced Graphics Port). Older cards will fit into a PCI or ISA slot. An ISA video card is VERY old and you should avoid these. A PCI video card is not a bad thing, but some of the newer games may not work very well or at all with a PCI video card. The AGP video card is the one to go for, especially if you are an avid gamer!

     Even if you find an AGP video card with 64 MB of memory, does that mean it is good? Not necessarily! You should stick to a brand name card. There are many other minor features of video cards that generic manufacturers cut down on to save money. A card with "Voodoo" technology or that is titled "GeForce" is good. Some good brand names are ATI, 3DFX, and PNY.

     Remember a general rule for most computer parts: The more you pay, the higher quality it will be. So the best idea is to simply find a place that you know has really good prices, check out their video card section, then go for the most expensive 64 MB AGP brand name video card!