Are you the kind of person who gets excited on seeing ’1 GB graphic card’ or ‘ 1 GB dedicated premium graphics’ on a laptop with a relatively low cost? Do you even ask the model number of the graphic card or just blindly consider it a good deal?

In this article i will tell you how much graphic card memory really matters and that it is not the deciding factor when it comes to selecting an appropriate model.

Saying a graphic card has 1 GB of  graphics memory is like saying i have 6 mangoes(A quote from my friend). They may all be rotten.Maybe not. But i’d rather have 3 ripe and juicy mangoes instead of 6 rotten ones.

What i mean by this is that some 512 MB graphic cards simply blow out some 1 GB cards. For example, consider a 512 MB NVIDIA 9800M GT or a 512 MB ATI mobility Radeon HD4850.

And on the other hand consider a 1GB NVIDIA G 110M or a 1GB ATI mobility radeon HD 4350.

There is really no comparison between these two sets of cards. The first 512MB set of cards can play most recent games at very high settings, while the second set, especially the NVIDIA cannot play recent games at lowest possible settings smoothly.

Same applies for the desktop versions of the cards. GDDR3 graphic cards outperform the GDDR2 ones of similar level, even if they have lesser memory, like an NVIDIA 8600GT 256MB GDDR3 outperforms an NVIDIA 8600GT 512MB GDDR2. GDDR5 cards perform even better.

But generally, the model number of the card should be used to judge how well a card will perform, and not the amount of video memory.

Casual gamers are generally not very knowledgeable about gaming graphics and end up buying a 1 GB graphics card laptop which does not play even some older games at medium settings.

In some ignorant places, people are fooled into paying more to buy a laptop with 1 GB graphic cards where there is no mention of model number of the graphic card, but only coolly says ’1 GB graphic card’ or ’1 GB dedicated premium graphics’. Do not make that mistake.

For detailed reference to which model numbered cards you should buy according to the type of games you play or other applications you use, refer my article on buying a gaming laptop here.