GPU vs Graphics Card vs Video Card – What Are the Main Differences?

So, what are the primary differences between a GPU vs Graphics Card or vs Video card? To know that we need first to understand what each of these components is and what role they have in a CPU of a PC or computer system.

This will help us better understand the differences. That is why we compiled this guide after intense research on several websites to get you accurate information. Let us know read to find out what are the main differences between the three components in the PC.

What is multimedia, and how do these components help users?

As you might know, every PC or computer system has a sound, video, and graphics element in them. These three are vital for the functioning of the PC. Many users tend to purchase PCs or laptops for programming, content creation, and gaming in these games.

Apart from these three functions, PCs or laptops can be used for performing a wide range of other tasks like browsing, reading, writing, and browsing. However, all of these tasks require video, sound, and graphics in some way or the other.

You would understand the difference if you view the videos on a regular PC or laptop and view the images on a gaming PC or laptop. They are also known as the multimedia of the computer system.

Today, you can find them in all models. The graphics enable the system to provide you with the crucial images and videos. It aids you in replicating them on external devices like the monitors and the printers.

Likewise, you have the video card, which is another vital hardware component in the PC system. This is the interface or the connection between the PC system and the monitor. You are provided with opulent images to see what is happening on the monitor.

It could be your games, pictures, videos, and texts. Everything is elegantly displayed on the monitor for you to view and understand. The term video card is often not heard or used because you get to listen to the GPU or the graphics processing unit.

It is also known as the graphics card. The professional video workstation uses the graphics card and the video card to provide you with pictures. However, they are the same in terms of functionality.

The GPU or the graphic cards are a hardware component that can provide you with the video processing element. It comes with its own processing power and memory to help get better processing requirements.

What is a GPU?

The complete form of a GPU is a graphics processing unit. The graphics processing unit is a flat kind of chip-like structure. You can find it inside your electronic circuit. It measures around 3x3cm in size and is relatively compact.

The GPU comes with a different circuit logic. Moreover, you can also find the cores that are present inside it to make it programmable. Please understand that the GPU cannot function on its own.

It needs power management, memory, and the connection on your PC or laptop. When you have the GPU inside the CPU, it is known as the integrated GPU or iGPU. Perhaps, you may have heard this word.

The iGPU gets its power from the hardware of the PC that is found inside the CPU. You can be able to access the RAM of the system and work on it. As the GPU is placed in the PCB, then it is known as the graphics card.

The graphics card comes with several parts like the PCB, connectors, and the cooler. It is dedicated to the GPU as a whole and not just a processor. Hence, the GPU is the graphics chips that are produced by NVIDIA and AMD.

But the graphics card is the final model you are getting in the market or from retailers that are produced in partnership with laptop manufacturers like Gigabyte, MSI, Asus, EVGA, and many more.

What is a Graphics Card?

We just read a few lines about the graphics card, but what it is actually. The graphics card is like the motherboard where several components are housed. Similarly, the graphics card comes infused with the RAM and the processor.

It is a circuit house that has these elements in them elegantly. It is also known as video cards, graphic adapters, and the display cards. As you can see, it comes with a wide range of other names, but they mean the same thing.

The integrated graphics component decides on the capabilities of the PC or the laptop. This is where the display ability of the monitor is done. The kind of bits and the resolutions that are used on the model.

The information about the color and the pixel is present in here. You can also find that out with the help of the monitors that are connected through the graphics card. There is also the input/output system (BIOS) chip that stores the setting of the card.

The three common kinds of interfaces that are utilized to connect the monitor to a PC or the laptop is the VGA or the video graphics array. You also have the DVI or the digital visual interface and the HDMI high-definition multimedia interface.

The VGA makes use of a 15-pin D-shaped connector. It is worked with the flat panel & CRT monitors. You will want to know that the DVI uses a rectangular connector. This is used with the help of digital monitors, including digital HDTVs & LCD monitors.

The HDMI is commonly used in the smaller connector and supports monitors that are able to work on high-definition content. The cards that are integrated into these kinds of motherboards are known as onboard cards.

You may want to know that the graphics card is called as a discrete or dedicated graphics card. That means the graphics card can offer you an interface on the PC and laptop using the PCIe slot on the motherboard.

The external graphics card is found on the external enclosure and connected to a PC. It is done using the Thunderbolt 3 port. It is used mainly on laptops and ensures that its portability of it is able to improve the gaming performance and get it close to a desktop level.

What is a Video Card?

Now, we come to a video card. The video card is also known as a graphics card. Like we said before, the names and terms are almost the same, but the differences are very minor in features.

It is also known as a graphics adapter, video controller, and display card. This hardware processes the graphics that are produced by the motherboard when it transmits the images on the display unit.

The circuit board is able to fit inside the slot of the motherboard of the PC or the laptop. The video card can be plugged in using the monitor with the help of the socket at the rear. The motherboard comes with an electronic circuit that consists of a GPU and VPU as well.

You can find a heat sink present on the model for removing the heat that is produced in the system when it is switched on. Some of the other components include video memory, RAMDAC, BIOS, digital visual interface, video graphics array & HDMI.

It comes with control display components, including the colors that are displayed, the resolution, and the speed of the images that are being displayed on the monitor. But the video cards are present directly on the CPU that is known as the onboard cards.

Earlier, the video cards only have to covert the signals. The signals from digital to analogue were converted. Today, they have a greater purpose and are used to convert the analogue signal into text or images.

What is the main difference between GPU vs Graphics card vs Video Card?

The main difference between GPU vs Graphics card vs Video Card is that the GPU is the unit in the graphics card and video card. The GPU does the processing of the images & pictures that are present on the PC.

The graphics card is an expansion card that offers you pictures to display on the output device. You can notice a difference between the GPU and graphics card. Besides, the graphics card’s primary task is to provide pictures on the display unit.

The GPU is present on the graphics card or video card. The actual computations that are required for the graphics are done in here. Moreover, the GPU handles most of the high-resolution graphics processing tasks.

The GPU also decreases the workload of the central processor.

Terminology for Graphics Card vs Video Card

You would know by now that the graphics card and the video card are the same things. In this sense, they are used for a similar function to generate the images on the monitor of your PC. They generate the images and then transmit them to your display.

But the terms are, more often than not, interchanged depending on the region, the individual’s knowledge of the computer hardware, and the components embedded in them. But they are quite the same and handle the image part you can see on your monitor.

The technology involved in Graphics Card and Video Card

The technology is almost the same. The simple reason for that is when the function is the same, then the technology used in there should be similar to each other. It comes produced from a special circuit board that is present on the expansion slots on the motherboard.

It contains the GPU, VPU, and the heat sink from where the heat is spread out evenly. Some of the other components in them include RAMDAC, video BIOS, video RAM, and the video input/output system.

The video cards are integrated or embedded into the motherboard. These are known as the onboard or integrated cards. It comes in three common kinds of interfaces that are used to connect a display on your monitor that are HDMI, VGA, and DVI.

Integrated Graphics

The graphic cards and video cards are commonly used when you work with a PC or a laptop. However, you will want to know that there is a slight difference between the integrated graphics found on the video card.

The integrated graphics are not quite expensive; they don’t consume a lot of power and are compact. Besides, the counterparts tend to be plugged into the expansion slot, which is kind of power-consuming in nature.

However, the integrated graphics perform well and is not inferior to the dedicated cards found in them. They come with their cooling technology and RAM. This helps them to do well and provides you with spectacular picture quality.

Final thoughts on GPU vs Graphics Card vs Video Card

This is it. We have reached the end of the comparison between the GPU vs Graphics Card vs Video Card. We hope you were able to understand more about them through this post. These terms are commonly used depending on the kind of individual you are.

But they are all the same in one way or the other. It is just that there are minor differences that we discussed briefly. They help in providing you with a stunning image on your display device or monitor present on the PC or the laptop.

The graphic cards are a hardware component that is meant for processing videos and images on your screen. It comes with processing power and RAM in them. A built-in video card is sometimes called dedicated graphics and integrated graphics.

The video cards that are embedded into the motherboard are known as onboard cards. Their performance comes slightly lower than the dedicated cards with cooling technology and the RAM, giving the GPU an edge for better graphic capabilities.