At 5… Ulead Photo Impact 12
Pentax has brought the might of its heritage to the 8-megapixel A10, for a camera that’s small but produces stunning image quality.
At 4… IrfanView
Light on features, but that makes it easy to use. This free tool is perfect for quick, if basic, editing and resizing of images.
At 3… Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo XI
Now Windows Vista certified, this longrunning image editor is packed with great ways to organise and edit your photographs.
At 2… Paint.NET
Starting life as a uni design project mentored by Microsoft, Paint.NET is now the most powerful free image editing utility around.
And at 1… Adobe Photoshop Elements 5
The little sister of Adobe’s flagship Photoshop package, loved by creative types the world over. The Elements label means that it lacks the high-end features of the full version, but there’s still room for some very powerful tools. It’s perfect for touching up photos and creating graphics, and it’s a very affordable price.
The bottom line: An affordable way to get started with the world’s most popular graphics program.
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Need a new graphics card? If you want to play the latest games but aren’t sure what type of card is required, you’ll need one that features Shader Model 3.0 and has at least 256MB of video memory – though 512MB of memory is the amount required to really show them off to their best.
These days, PCI-Express is the norm for connecting the card to your motherboard, but if your PC is still equipped with the older AGP connection type, then luckily the manufacturers are still making some pretty decent cards, meaning you won’t need to go out and buy a brand-new machine just yet.
Prices range from £80 for a good card, up to about £500 for the flagship types. We’ve decided to switch our old card for one with lots more memory and a super-fast processor. It will play the latest games at the highest resolutions with all the eye-popping visuals turned on, and our computer will be future-proof for at least another year, too.
One thing to bear in mind when choosing a card is the physical space in your PC – some cards are much larger than you might expect and may not fit. Usually, computers with two or more free PCI-Express slots will be fine.
If you really want to show off, and you have an SLI- or Crossfi re-enabled motherboard (with two free PCI-E slots), you can buy a second card and connect the two together for even more gaming performance. For most games, though, it’s probably overkill.
Fill a slot while you warm the pot
How to fit a graphics card and make tea. OK, it’s in a mug, if you want to be picky
1. Open Up
Fill the kettle, and start it heating. While it’s taking an age to boil, you can make a start on fitting the card. For safety’s sake, and to avoid damage, turn off the computer and unplug it from the mains before you remove the case door.
2. Take It Out
Unclip the old graphics card from its slot. It’s usually held in place by a screw, but in newer PC cases, like ours, it’s held by quick release clips. We’re halfway through fitting and the tea bag is only just going in the mug! BTW: we don’t do decaf.
3. Slot it in
Fit the new graphics card by pushing it firmly into the now vacant slot and securing it in position. If the card needs an additional power supply, plug it in. Be careful not to scald yourself while trying to keep the tea-making up to schedule.
4. Closed Case
By the time that tea bag has had the opportunity to brew to full strength, you should easily have been able to fasten your computer’s case door back in place, reattach the mains lead and power it up again – the PC is miles ahead of the tea.
5. Install It
Once Windows Vista loads, the new graphics card is detected and the appropriate drivers are automatically installed, so you’re now ready to play. The tea-making is lagging so far behind that the milk is probably past its sell-by date by now.
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