Laptop Video Card

laptop video card

The graphic card of a laptop is what enables it to display high-resolution images, video and games on your screen. It is also responsible for handling complex computer tasks like gaming, video editing and 3D model rendering. Adding a graphics card to your laptop will make these tasks run faster and more smoothly. The best laptops for gamers have high-end graphic cards that provide a smoother, more vivid and more realistic experience.

The best laptops for gaming include either integrated graphics – which are built into the processor itself – or discrete graphics. Integrated GPUs are generally more power-efficient, so they’re best for general computing and lightweight gaming (although top-tier laptops often include enough dedicated VRAM, or memory, to handle even the most demanding games). Discrete graphics are a separate entity from the CPU, and they’re typically bigger and more powerful. They’re best for heavy processing tasks like intensive photo or video editing, design work, and more intense gaming.

There was a time when it was possible to buy a desktop PC with a better GPU than was available in the best laptops, but that gap has closed significantly in recent years. In fact, both NVIDIA and AMD now offer full-fledged laptop GPUs that are a match for their desktop cousins.

If you want to get the most out of your laptop, you need to pay close attention to the amount of dedicated VRAM it has. The more VRAM, the smoother and more detailed your graphics will be. Top-tier laptops, such as the GTX 1080 and RX Vega 56, have a maximum of 8GB of dedicated VRAM.

You should also keep in mind that your CPU is a big contributor to how well your laptop performs, so you can’t simply upgrade the GPU without upgrading the overall performance of your machine. The best laptops for gaming are those with fast, high-efficiency CPUs and plenty of RAM to support the GPU.

What is the purpose of a laptop graphic card?

Graphics cards do what their name suggests – they process graphics, and they do it much faster than the general-purpose CPU that’s in every laptop. This makes them a good fit for activities that use lots of graphics, such as gaming, video editing and 3D modeling.

While you could technically put a desktop graphics chip in a laptop and have it function, the thermal constraints in a laptop will prevent it from running at its full potential or possibly even melting down your machine. Instead, you can use a Thunderbolt-compatible external graphics card (or e-GPU) in an enclosure that plugs into your laptop’s port. It’s an expensive upgrade, but it can provide a significant boost to your laptop’s performance. Check your laptop’s specifications to see if it supports this, then find a compatible enclosure. Some options come in a tablet form factor for added convenience and portability. Some also have extra features, such as more USB hubs or Ethernet ports.