Much of what you do on a computer today, including using the Internet, editing photos and making presentations, involves intense graphics. A video card is the part of your computer that transforms video data into the visual display you see on your monitor. The graphics solution plugs into your computer’s motherboard and is responsible for decoding and processing the video signal.

The quality of video you experience is largely dependent on your graphics solution and your monitor.

Integrated or UMA Graphics (Basic Solution)
Integrated graphics solutions are among the most common type of graphics solutions found on computers. An Integrated graphics solution shares resources with the system’s processor (CPU) and memory to display information onto the screen. While integrated graphics are capable of processing some 3D images, the shared resources can sometimes prevent them from delivering an optimal experience.

HyperMemory/TurboCache Graphics (Mid-Range Solution)
Mid-range graphics solutions are designed to deliver a great balance of price and performance. Often labeled HyperMemory^TM  or TurboCache^TM , these solutions consist of a discrete GPU with some discrete graphics memory. The remaining memory allocated to graphics is shared with the system memory.

Discrete Graphics (High-End Solution)
Discrete graphics utilize a graphics processing unit (GPU) that is separate (or discrete) from the system’s processor and also use a separate graphics memory. Because this solution does not burden the CPU and system memory, overall system performance is likely to be significantly better with discrete graphics when running applications that use complex images.

Why is graphics memory important?
Graphics memory is used by the GPU to accelerate how quickly information is displayed on your monitor and to improve the overall visual quality of games, movies and other entertainment activities.