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Greater Graphics

You don't have to be a gamer to benefit from a better graphics card. Our lab tests identify the best choices, from $99 boards to sophisticated dual-card setups.

Richard Baguley

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Photograph by Marc Simon.

Photograph: Marc Simon
Graphics cards aren't just for gamers. A good card can improve your computing experience on many different levels, providing superior image and video quality, boosting system performance, and enhancing productivity through features such as dual-monitor support. Oh, and did we mention that the right card can make high-definition content look fabulous?

Best of all, you don't have to spend a fortune to see noticeable improvements in your PC's graphics capabilities. For this roundup, the PC World Test Center benchmarked 16 cards using a new suite of tests. Our mainstream-board chart topper, EVGA's e-GeForce 6800 GS, will offer most PCs a nice performance boost for $200. If you are willing to spend more--make that a lot more--our top-ranked power card, EVGA's $570 e-GeForce 7800 GTX KO, offers cutting-edge graphics power.

Still looking for a reason to update your PC's graphics? Consider Windows Vista. Microsoft hasn't actually set the requirements for its next version of Windows yet, but the company's initial recommendations are to have a dedicated graphics board supporting DirectX 9 and having 128MB of memory in order to run the new stylish and effects-heavy user interface called Aero Glass.

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