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Video Cards - ATI-Nvidia-Matrox Dual Monitor Video Card Reviews
The video card is what connects the monitor with the computer. For most applications a basic video card will do fine. The biggest factor in finding the right video card is the amount of memory it has. Right now the minimum amount of memory a video card should have is 64 MB, and the highest is 512 MB. This will probably double every couple of years as it's done in the past.
If you will be doing any gaming or movie watching then you should get a video card with at least 128 MB of memory. If you want a card that you can use to watch TV, input video from a camcorder or VCR, or use to output from the computer to a TV, then the ATI All-In-Wonder is the best card to do everything in one.
Out of most video card companies ATI is obviously a good choice as mentioned above, but NVidia and Matrox are good as well. Unless you plan on doing a lot of gaming then either ATI or NVidia will work great. If you want to use more than one monitor so you have more desktop space to work with then Matrox owns the multiple monitor market. I use a Matrox video card on my main PC and it works great...but not with games. If you want multiple monitors and want to play games as well, Matrox has come out with a card called the Parhelia. This card does it all but is very expensive.
Cost
Video cards can range from $45 to $500 depending on how new the technology is and how much memory is on the card.