Graphics card: Overview, History, Build Up, Everything You Want To Know

As the name suggests, a graphics card is an expansion card that creates output pictures for display through one or more of the following names: display card, video card, or display adapter.

In order to distinguish them from built-in graphics, they are sometimes referred to as discrete or dedicated graphics cards.

However, although “GPU” is sometimes used as a shortcut to refer to graphics cards, the graphics processing unit (GPU) is the central component that conducts calculations in both systems.

Overview

The vast majority of graphics cards are capable of far more than just displaying images on a screen.

Because of this, the computer’s primary CPU is freed up to focus on other important tasks. OpenGL and DirectX graphics pipelines may be rendered on the hardware level by Nvidia and AMD.

Using OpenCL and CUDA graphics processors to tackle non-graphic activities has become popular in the latter half of the 2010s as a result of this trend.

AI training, cryptocurrency mining, and molecular modeling all make heavy use of graphics hardware.

History

These standards were established between 1982 and 1990 and supported by a wide range of hardware vendors, including MDA and CGA, as well as Tandy and PGC. Radius, for example, produced separate 2D QuickDraw Graphic accelerator cards for the Apple Macintosh II in the late 1980s

3dfx Interactive was one of the first firms to build a consumer-facing GPU with 3D acceleration (the Voodoo series) and the first to design a graphics chipset specialized in 3D, but without 2D capability.

The vast majority of today’s graphics cards are powered by graphics processors from either AMD or Nvidia. Before the year 2000, 3dfx Interactive was a significant manufacturer.

Most graphics cards come with a variety of features, such as the capacity to render 3D and 2D graphics more quickly, decode MPEG-2/MPEG-4, and output to a TV or multiple displays (multi-monitor).
In addition to the video, graphics cards may also output sound through a sound card to connected TVs or displays with built-in speakers.

For those in the business, the term “graphics” is sometimes dropped from the term “add-in-boards,” which is abbreviated AIB.

Build Up

It is common practice to install a graphics card in an expansion slot, whether universal or specific, in the form of a printed circuit board (PCB) (AGP, PCI Express).

The computer is attached to a docking station or a cable through a specialized enclosure. Electronic graphics processing units (eGPUs) are what we call them.

Discrete vs Integrated Graphics

Alternatively, video hardware might be included in the motherboard, CPU, or system-on-chip. Both are integrated graphics. The on-board video refers to motherboard-based solutions.

Almost all desktop computer motherboards with integrated graphics offer a PCI or PCI Express (PCI-E) slot for replacing the integrated graphics with a higher-performance graphics card. Disabling integrated graphics enables certain motherboards to be used even if the onboard video has failed.

Integrated graphics and standalone (or dedicated) graphics cards may both be utilized to feed different screens. Integrated graphics offers minimal cost, compactness, simplicity, and low energy use.

The graphics processor shares system resources with the CPU, reducing performance. A discrete graphics card includes its own RAM, cooling system, and power regulators, all geared to handle video pictures. Adding a standalone graphics card frees up CPU and RAM resources, allowing for quicker graphics processing and overall system performance.

This is required for video games, 3D animation, and video editing. AMD and Intel have both offered CPUs and motherboard chipsets that allow GPU die integration. AMD calls its integrated graphics Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), whereas Intel calls it Intel HD Graphics and Iris.

As part of the 8th Generation processors, Intel launched the Intel UHD line of Integrated Graphics. Intel’s HD Graphics architecture delivers performance approaching discrete mid-range graphics, while AMD APU technology is used in both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One video game consoles.

Size

Graphics cards for desktop computers come in two sizes, allowing them to be installed even in compact PCs. Some graphics cards have low profiles because they are not a standard size.

Low-profile graphics cards take up less than half the height of a PCIe slot, and some are even “half-height”. High-end cards normally take up two or three expansion slots, and dual-GPU cards like the Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 may be almost 250 mm (10 in) long.

Most customers choose a lower profile card if they plan to utilize numerous cards or if other motherboard components like DIMM or PCIE slots are in the way.

A bigger case (mid-tower or full tower) may remedy this. Full towers can generally accommodate ATX and mini ATX motherboards. The bigger the casing, the larger the motherboard, graphics card, or other components will be.

Marketing

In 1999, 114 million graphics cards were shipped. There were 14.5 million units sold in the third quarter of 2013, a 17 percent decrease in comparison to the same period in 2012, whereas in 2015, the number was 44 million.

Because of developments in integrated graphics technology, the sales of graphics cards have decreased. Integrated graphics may deliver performance comparable to low-end graphics cards.

While sales of high-end graphics cards have risen, manufacturers have turned their attention to the gaming and enthusiast sector, resulting in an increase in sales.

Graphics cards are increasingly being utilized for general-purpose computing, such as big data processing, outside of the gaming and entertainment industries. Because of the benefits they provide in the mining process, high-end graphics cards are in great demand owing to the explosive expansion of cryptocurrencies.

The increasing demand for mid-to-high-end graphics cards resulted in considerable price increases in January 2018, with several merchants reporting supply shortages as a result.

GPU manufacturers created mining-specific cards that could operate 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, and had no video output ports. Since there will be a chip scarcity in 2020 and 21 it has hurt the graphics card industry