Introduction, Continued

Overall ranking and relative market share of graphics, based on unit shipments in Q4'03, of the eight major graphics suppliers to the PC industry. Numbers by Jon Peddie Research .

Market share in Q4 2003 in discrete graphics and integrated. Numbers published by Mercury Research .

Obviously, the final decision is also dictated to a great extent by the final price. Aside from the processor, the graphics card is probably the single most expensive component that factors into the price of the system. For simple jobs like office applications, video & DVD and surfing the internet, simple graphics cards starting at $50 are more than enough. However, if you plan to use your PC for gaming, then you can easily triple that number, bumping the cost up to $150. Modern 3D graphics engines demand a great deal of processing power, and the requirements are getting steeper practically with every game. The newest DirectX 9 titles can bring even graphics cards from the $500 price bracket to their knees.