Monday, December 13, 2010
Some news
I recently received a Corsair H50 Water cooler and will soon be writing a review on it. In other news on the ATI front they have released the HD Radeon 6870 which has about the same performance as the 5870 but this is due to AMD's new naming scheme. For example the HD Radeon 6870 would be in the same(relative to the series)performance bracket as the HD Radeon 5770. On the Nvidia front they have recently released the GeForce 580 and 570. The GeForce 580 beats the GeForce 480 in temperature and speed and will even beat the 5970 in many benchmarks. THe GeForce 570 is on the same level as the GeForce 480 and will occasionally beat the HD Radeon 5970 in a few benchmarks.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Graphics Cards
A Graphics card or video card is defined as “a circuit board in a computer system designed to generate output for the system's video display screen”. (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary 2010) It is classified as an internal output device. The purpose of a graphics card is to process and then output what the user sees on the screen. It is almost like a little computer in itself. Like a computer, a graphics card has its own processor. A processor is the part of the computer that computes and executes instructions given by programs. Like a computer a graphics card has its own RAM (Random Access Memory). What the average computer user sees of the graphics card is the video outputs, which are the small plugs in the back of the computer to plug hardware in. However, there is much more to a graphics card than just video outputs. When a user opens up the computer and takes out the card he will often see a cooler. The cooler prevents the card from overheating. A cooler on a graphics card can range from a small piece of extruded aluminum to a plastic box containing a fan and thin layers of aluminum covering the entire surface of the card.
The processing powers of graphics cards have many applications. Three-dimensional animation and computer aided design (CAD) programs benefit immensely from having a first-rate graphics card. One of the newer uses for graphics cards is pure scientific number crunching for things like calculating weather patterns and molecular structures. These applications often use a class of graphics cards called “workstation graphics cards.” These types of cards are different from others in many ways. Workstation graphics cards are extremely stable, have superior support, are very precise, and very expensive. Some examples of workstation cards include the ATI Firegl V8600 and the NVIDIA Quadro FX5500. Some other uses for graphics cards are video processing and gaming. “Gaming” refers to hardware-intensive three-dimensional games like Crysis. These applications more often use gaming cards. Gaming cards are less reliable then workstation cards, but they often have better components, and are faster. Gaming cards are much less precise. This is due to the fact that gaming cards are designed to display frames as fast as possible at cost to precision. They are also more prone to crash for the same reason. Two examples of gaming cards include the ATI Radeon HD 5970 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295.
Graphics cards are similar to a few other computer components. The first example is the CPU (central processing unit) or “processor” of the computer. They are similar in the fact that they both do processing. Graphics cards are different because they process graphics, they are not necessary components of a computer, and are removable. Graphics cards are also similar to sound cards in that they are both output devices, they are removable, and they are not necessary for the computer. The sound card is different because it outputs sound as opposed to outputting visuals, and the sound card does not do its own processing like graphics cards do. A graphics card should also not be confused with integrated graphics. Integrated graphics is what computer companies call having no specific graphics card; instead there is a video output connected directly to the motherboard. Integrated graphics use the CPU to process and output video on the screen. This process slows down the computer as a whole because it gives the CPU more tasks it needs to compute.
Simply put, graphics cards output and process what you see on screen. The uses of a graphics card can vary from gaming to content creating programs like CAD programs. Workstation cards are used for content creating programs, and gaming cards are geared for entertainment-based tasks. Graphics cards should not be confused with the CPU, sound card, or integrated graphics.
The processing powers of graphics cards have many applications. Three-dimensional animation and computer aided design (CAD) programs benefit immensely from having a first-rate graphics card. One of the newer uses for graphics cards is pure scientific number crunching for things like calculating weather patterns and molecular structures. These applications often use a class of graphics cards called “workstation graphics cards.” These types of cards are different from others in many ways. Workstation graphics cards are extremely stable, have superior support, are very precise, and very expensive. Some examples of workstation cards include the ATI Firegl V8600 and the NVIDIA Quadro FX5500. Some other uses for graphics cards are video processing and gaming. “Gaming” refers to hardware-intensive three-dimensional games like Crysis. These applications more often use gaming cards. Gaming cards are less reliable then workstation cards, but they often have better components, and are faster. Gaming cards are much less precise. This is due to the fact that gaming cards are designed to display frames as fast as possible at cost to precision. They are also more prone to crash for the same reason. Two examples of gaming cards include the ATI Radeon HD 5970 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295.
Graphics cards are similar to a few other computer components. The first example is the CPU (central processing unit) or “processor” of the computer. They are similar in the fact that they both do processing. Graphics cards are different because they process graphics, they are not necessary components of a computer, and are removable. Graphics cards are also similar to sound cards in that they are both output devices, they are removable, and they are not necessary for the computer. The sound card is different because it outputs sound as opposed to outputting visuals, and the sound card does not do its own processing like graphics cards do. A graphics card should also not be confused with integrated graphics. Integrated graphics is what computer companies call having no specific graphics card; instead there is a video output connected directly to the motherboard. Integrated graphics use the CPU to process and output video on the screen. This process slows down the computer as a whole because it gives the CPU more tasks it needs to compute.
Simply put, graphics cards output and process what you see on screen. The uses of a graphics card can vary from gaming to content creating programs like CAD programs. Workstation cards are used for content creating programs, and gaming cards are geared for entertainment-based tasks. Graphics cards should not be confused with the CPU, sound card, or integrated graphics.
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