1. Start with what the card must connect to
A graphics card is only as useful as the connection to the display it drives. The card’s product page lists its display outputs and their versions, and your monitor lists the inputs it accepts. The match happens in that documentation, not in the box, so it is worth doing before you compare anything else about the cards you are considering.
- The card’s product page lists its display outputs and their versions; copy them down before anything else.
- Match them to your monitor’s inputs, and note where an adapter may be needed between the two.
- If you plan to use more than one screen, count the outputs against the number of displays you actually want connected at once.
2. Compare cards using documented specifications
Specifications are the comparison you can do without owning the hardware, and they have a limit: a specification sheet does not measure performance. Within the same family and generation, documented values line up like with like. Where performance in games or programs decides the choice, independent measurements that use your own resolution and settings are the evidence to look for.
- The product page lists graphics memory amount and type; record both values.
- Compare cards within the same family and generation; a specification sheet does not measure performance.
- For performance in games or programs, look for independent measurements that use your resolution and settings.
- Keep the cards you are considering together in a parts list while you compare; the builder holds them side by side.
3. Check the power needs and connectors
Graphics cards draw power from the power supply through dedicated connectors, and the card’s documentation names which ones it uses. Whether your supply already provides them, on its own cables, is a separate question answered on the supply side, and the use of adapters is something to avoid where the documentation allows it.
- The card’s product page names its power connectors (for example 8-pin PCIe or the 16-pin 12V-2x6 type) and a recommended power supply; record both.
- Your power supply must have the right connectors on its own cables; Power supply wattage and connectors covers the supply side of this check.
- Treat adapters as a last resort and read the power supply maker’s guidance first.
4. Check length, height and thickness
The card must fit the case, and the case manufacturer states how much space it allows. Dimensions on the card’s product page are often split into length, height and thickness (or slot width), and the usable space in a case can shrink once front fans or a radiator are installed. The card and the case must be checked against each other, in both directions.
- The card’s dimensions are on the product page, often split into length, height and thickness (or slot width).
- The case manufacturer lists a maximum graphics card length; the front fans or a radiator can reduce it.
- A thick card can block neighbouring slots; Case and cooler clearance has the matching case-side checks.
- The catalogue shows card dimensions only where we have read them; the graphics card catalogue lists them per part.
5. Check the slot on your motherboard
Graphics cards use a PCI Express x16-size slot, and the motherboard’s product page lists the slots it provides. Slot speed and lane sharing are real questions for a build, but this site leaves them to the manufacturer documentation rather than checking them itself, and it says so plainly on the compatibility page.
- Graphics cards use a PCI Express x16-size slot; the board’s product page lists its slots.
- This site does not check slot speed or lane sharing: it is listed under what is not checked on the compatibility page.
6. Know exactly which variant you are buying
The same graphics chip appears in many board-partner models with different cooler sizes, clock settings and prices. The chip name alone does not identify the product you would be buying, so the full manufacturer part number is the unit of comparison, and the delivered total, with its date, is the unit of price.
- The same graphics chip is sold in many board-partner models with different cooler sizes, clock settings and prices.
- Match the full manufacturer part number, not the chip name alone.
- Compare delivered totals and dates; How to compare PC component deals sets out the method.
Sources and scope
This guide gives a checklist, not a product recommendation or a hands-on test. It relies on the specifications published by manufacturers, so always confirm details on the manufacturer’s product page for the exact model you are buying. Read how our guides are researched for the standard this site applies to all of its buying advice.