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[–] binky ago  (edited ago)

A video card has some pre-made parts and some that are made by the manufacturer. A GPU, for example, is premade. When it's sold the company that made it also provides a set of instructions for how it can be used. The power it needs, the way it has to be connected to the board, how much memory it can use and how the memory must be addressed are all part of the GPU. Some video card companies buy certain parts, like memory. Some video card companies have those parts made to their own specifications. Some make their own. But all the memory that connects to a GPU has to be addressable, or it has to connect to a custom chip that makes it addressable.

Different companies sell very similar cards because they're using the same pre-made parts, which have specific requirements that are best met by other pre-made parts. Other companies choose to make their own, or buy different components, which can be tied together in different ways.

Certain GPU's are able to support certain outputs. It's possible to add support (by adding a GPU or a chipset) but expensive and usually un-necessary. So that GPU will almost always be paired with that set of outputs.

As mavric pointed out licensing is also a big part of it. Sometimes a chip comes with a requirement that it be used in a certain way.