Graphic Processing

Nvidia SLI GTX 690 Graphics Processing Units

What is a GPU?

Graphics Processing Unit, the brain of the graphics card meaning that it handles all the graphics processing rather than the CPU doing it.

What types are there?

Single & Dual GPU’s along with pre-installed versions of graphics which are included on the motherboard and connected to the main chip, most commonly found in laptops however you can have dedicated cards which you then attach to the motherboard which is a more powerful dedicated graphics card. There are 4 kinds of Graphics processing units which are:

Dedicated Graphics Cards

These are attached to the motherboard and provide a dedicated graphical processing instead of the CPU meaning that high spec graphics can be handled rather than overloading the CPU to run low end graphics on more basic games. Having s dedicated graphics card means that you can play higher spec games easily without any issues.

Integrated Graphic Solutions

These card utilize the use of the CPU ram rather than using the graphics dedicated RAM, this means that when the card is processing graphical information then it will slow down the CPU as well, making performance worse. These graphics cards are integrated into the motherboard instead of externally attached.

Hybrid Solutions

Hybrid solutions works the same as the integrated graphics, however the hybrid cards also have some dedicated RAM built into the card to up the performance, however they cost more than the integrated but less than the dedicated. These push performance a little further especially in low end computers however they still can’t run full spec games.

Steam processing and General Purpose GPU’s

These are more commonly used in more powerful machines where they need more power, the steam processing GPGPU’s allow for more powerful performance in such elements of vector graphic creation and weather modelling. These can handle both graphic processing and CPU processing meaning that it can handle tasks that some CPU’s might not be able to handle. Each of these provide and different service in the performance and ability of displaying graphics.

How does speed & cache differ from the CPU?

The CPU handles instruction and the processing of data; however the GPU handles more graphical elements such as textures and 3D, 2D elements. With this the graphics card uses its own graphics cache to process the information, making it quicker and smoother to process rather than uses the CPU cache to do the processing, as all the elements will be within the graphics card, the processing of the data can be done a lot quicker and smoother rather than having to work through the motherboards & CPU’s data bus to get information processed. With its own speed cache and data bus it can handle a lot quicker within the graphics card unit itself.

What is the difference between 2D & 3D processors?

2D graphics are made up of the majority of pixels and shades of colour to create the image element, and are most commonly used with older games and mobile games where the graphics used are flat and either a raster or vector image. Needed hardware for the processing of these is quite simple and basic as it doesn’t need too much power, however some 2D graphics may need some more powerful units to run them.

3D processing makes use of geometric data used by the computer; these are then manipulated in 3D graphics software packages where the 3D model is designed to have a realistic appearance and movement characteristics. These are then outputted as 3D models which are displayed on a computer monitor/screen as a mathematical representation of the geometric data saved in a data file for the computer to use. These models are then taken forward to be used in cartoons, films, 3D simulations and for architectural purposes.

2D processes are less powerful and needy in terms of power, as they are only displaying basic raster and vector images which aren’t very hard to produce and display. However 3D processing is a more powerful and long process as they need to be able to use the Models in real time to display a representation of real life movement, appearance and style where as 2D graphics are normally a flat representation of something not so graphical extensive.

A polygon is a flat shape which is made up of straight lines to form a flat shape; this can only have more then 2 lines to create a polygon. A nurb is a curve or surface which is used on 3D shapes to make them smoother when completed. Nurb’s work with vertex points which provide a mesh for the 3D shape where the nurb will smooth the outside of the shape.

What is graphics Memory?

Graphics memory is dedicated memory for the graphics card to use rather than the RAM in which is installed on the computer used by both the CPU and the GPU however as the GPU has dedicated memory installed into the chip of the card, it uses that to help with the processing as its faster to get the data rather then going through the motherboard. Most graphics cards come with 1GB as a minimum of graphics memory Installed onto the card.


Graphical Processing In Consoles >