Can I have both a video capture card and a video card in my computer?

Question

I have a video capture card but I make home videos and my software runs slow. I think I need a video card. I'm a novice at this.

Answer 1

Well, first of all the video capture card just transfers video from the source (camcorder, camera, etc). But the video card itself does ALL of the video displaying, and also renders the video from the video capture card to the hard drive or a DVD, etc. Most computers come with integrated graphics controllers , which means that it is not stand alone and requires shared memory from your RAM. So since you do not have a video card, your computer loses available memory, which in turn slows your computer. Graphics cards are not too expensive, you can get one retail for as low as $79.99 at Bestbuy and if you do not know how to install it or do not know which type you need, Geeksquad can tell you which one you need and they will install it for you.
So if you want your computer to be faster get a graphics card and that will offload some of the processors work, and will also improve your computers graphics.
Also another way to make your computer faster is to add more RAM to it, which you can also get at bestbuy with geeksquad's install. :~)

Answer 2

First a little background: video capture card is completely different form the video (or graphic) card. These days, you just need a firewire (or iLink) connection to capture your video! On the other hand, your video card processes the graphics and displays them on the screen. The power of most video cards that are shipped with computers and laptop are more than enough for processing video (you need good video cards for playing games though)
So to answer your question, the CPU power and the speed of your hard drive (and the RAM to some extend) play much more important rule than the video card in order to play your video software smoothly.
Check out: http://www.homevideomaking.com/webpages/toolsEditingSystemPage1.html
It explains the computer specifications ideal for making videos.

Answer 3

Yes, and you will probably need both. If you have integrated graphics, which aren't so good in the first place, it's stealing your system RAM of which you should have at least 1 gigabyte. Also, your processor probably is out of date, but you'll also need a good hard drive to have enough storage and to be fast enough to capture to. RAM is also a very nice thing to have. For just plain editing you don't need a fancy video card, but the card should have 128MB of video ram on it. Just check to make sure what kind of video expansion slots you have and get something in the mid-range like a 7300GT. That should speed up your editing, unless your computer needs to be updated. Hope this helps!

By the way, don't spend a fortune on Geek Squad when you can easily use Crucial's system scanner (http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/) which will advise you on both memory and video card upgrades.

Answer 4

You need a fast video card to help you output the video you're capturing, however if the thing slows during the capture it's probably related to processor speed rather than Video speed, if it slows down when playing it then get the vid card.

Answer 5

you are able to seize video from a television tuner card. ATI All in ask your self taking part in cards have the two video seize and pics applications geared up in to the comparable card. for my area i might propose getting a separate device for each function. it will be plenty extra less expensive in the long-term and additionally you gets precisely what you choose for each function. you will no longer could over purchase or compromise in the two area.

Answer 6

You certainly can.