Basically there are only 2 major companies that are manufacturing PC Graphics cards, they are

1.     AMD

2.     NVIDIA

If you have heard about ATi somewhere, then don’t be surprised it was purchased by AMD.

So now what is the speciality of each company?

Earlier AMD was releasing their Graphic cards at very competitive prices but now with the introduction of its latest Graphic cards that trend has been dropped by AMD.

AMD’s some of the past Graphic card series are

1.     HD 2000 series

2.     HD 3000 series

3.     HD 4000 series

4.     HD 5000 series

5.     HD 6000 series

The latest generation of Graphic cards from AMD is named as HD 7000 series. But for budget gamers there is no Graphic card released in India in HD 7000 series, as the starting card in HD 7000 series is from HD 7750.

But rather, AMD has released their APU series with inbuilt HD 7000 series Graphics. Also it’s a brilliant decision to go with AMD APU rather than discrete HD 7600 series cards if released or available.

If your computer is struggling to play HD or Full HD video then the basic card from AMD, which can satisfy your HD playback need, is HD 6350, which can be purchased for around Rs.2500 in online shopping.

If you want to play latest 3D games in HD resolution, then HD 6670 can play most of them in medium to high settings.

But if want to play them in Full HD resolution, then you may require a HD 7770 or HD 7850 Graphic card.

Nowadays Graphic cards come in 1 GB, 2GB and even 3GB memory capacity. To be frank 3 GB is simply overkill for even a Full HD monitor. In games like GTA IV or some other games, which uses high number of textures, 2 GB may be helpful.

But generally 1 GB capacity is enough, but if you have enough budget, then you may opt for 2 GB memory capacity.

NVIDIA has a huge amount of fan base compared to AMD, because of the performance level it had established earlier. NVIDIA’s previous generation Graphic cards are

GeForce 200/300 series
GeForce 400 series
GeForce 500 series

And current generation Graphic cards are GeForce 600 series.

During the release time of new Graphic cards, the pricing strategies of both the companies are in the following way.

AMD Radeon HD 6850 has been sold at Rs.9,500. But HD 7770, which has almost the same performance level with some added features, was released at around Rs.10,000. Similar trend can be found in NVIDIA too. But NVIDIA cards usually have better drivers compared to AMD cards. Also they perform better in Anti-Aliasing like features than AMD cards. But with the period of time, with improvements in drivers, the performance of Graphic cards in individual games will improve.

If you want to play games in HD resolution then you may start with a NVIDIA GT440 GDDR5 Graphic card or AMD HD 6670 DDR3 Graphic card. If you want a smooth Full HD gaming then you may opt for AMD Radeon HD 7750 or NVIDIA GTX 650 Graphic cards.

As I have said earlier Crossfire or SLI are technologies of AMD and NVIDIA, respectively, for combining the power of multiple Graphic cards. Though both these companies have this kind of feature, NVIDIA has a special algorithm that smoothens the visual gameplay much better than AMD.

But I’m not recommending you any particular company. We shall see, which card will suit you better, in our upcoming Graphic cards buying guide.