Gamers and video and graphics users are always looking for better performance.

As the graphics in PC games get better and better and as users seek to work on more detailed and larger graphics and video files it’s important that our graphics cards keep up with our advancing needs.

Although it is possible to use a low resolution on your screen to view any of your files being forced to do so will lessen the enjoyment of any game and will certainly make useful video and picture editing a total waste of time. You really do need the best card you can get if you need high resolutions and speed.

One way of improving performance is to overclock your GPU (graphics processor unit). Today the larger card makers supply software to make this easy and safe. Mind you it is possible to void your warranty if you do this – check with the guarantee.

A few pointers

1/ If you are a gamer and you’re finding that the game is jerky then reduce the screen resolution. This will increase the frame rate and get rid of the jerkies,

2/ Make sure you don’t set the refresh rate higher than the monitor is capable of achieving – you can burn out the monitor if you do. If there is no limit in the graphics set up screen then the drivers have not been properly installed. Reinstall!

3/ Often your graphics card drivers will install a control panel item designed just for your card. Use this to turn off anti-aliasing. This is a process whereby the GPU eliminates the jaggies that you sometimes see on edges (diagonal and curved). This process is GPU intensive and can slow down rendering to your monitor. So the best thing to do is to check an array of settings until you get what you are looking for in the way of a speed/quality trade off.