3D accelerators are becoming more common in laptops and desktops. They allow you to play games or watch movies in full HD resolution. But they also come at a price. If you want to get a 3D accelerator card, you should know what you are buying before you purchase it.
3D accelerators (also known as graphics processing units) are specialized chips designed to accelerate 3D rendering. These cards are often sold separately from the motherboard, and you can choose between integrated and discrete models.
There are two types of 3D accelerators: integrated and discrete. Integrated 3D accelerators are built into the main processor chip, whereas discrete 3D accelerators are separate chips. The former has lower performance compared to the latter.
There are a wide variety of expansion cards that are available to add multiple enhancement functions to your computer. The video or graphics card is one of the most widely used expansion cards. It is intended to enhance your computer's ability to display three-dimensional graphics. Three-dimensional acceleration is supposed to boost the performance levels of your video card and expand the graphics even further. But are they really necessary?
Today’s video games boast realistic three-dimensional virtual worlds. Graphics accelerators are specialized adaptors that help transform computer graphics using its own built in processor. Three-dimensional accelerators enhance the realism in the video graphics.
Graphics accelerators have their own memory used to store graphics. The amount of memory will determine the degree of resolution and the amount of colors that will be displayed. Most accelerators are designed for a specific bus, most commonly the PCI bus.
In the past video cards were made for two-dimensional execution only. This means that in order to show a 3-D game the computer’s central processing unit must handle all of the geometric transformations. This considerable task load will slow down even the fastest CPU.
In the early 1990s, video cards did not have acceleration functions. Graphical operating systems were becoming immensely popular but the CPU was responsible for drawing all the graphics on the display screen. This would cause the entire system to be slowed down significantly. As a result accelerators were developed to take the load off of the CPU. The system processor was no longer responsible for drawing the graphics or transforming the geometrics.
Without a graphics accelerator, the computer’s processor would rely on using small polygons to formulate people or landscapes. One typical figure in a standard personal computer game would consist of anywhere from 200 to 1500 triangles and rectangles. In addition, each time the figure moved the polygons would have to be repositioned. This would require that the vertexes of all of the shapes be recalculated.
To continue, in order to calculate the exact placement of the polygons the processor would need to use floating point numbers. These numbers are referred to as single precision numbers. They are 32 bits long. This means that each time a 3D figure moves a matrix multiplication is required. These complex computations are time consuming, which is why any computer’s CPU would be overwhelmed.
Without a 3D graphics card, a tremendous amount of work would have to be done to turn the three-dimensional pictures into realistic two-dimensional graphics. The accelerator is designed to allow programs to display highly detailed colored graphics that would otherwise be impossible. The three dimensional acceleration is particularly helpful for games that require that the screen image be recomputed multiple times per second.
Today almost all video cards and personal computers have 3-D graphics accelerators already built in. Even laptops have a three-dimensional accelerator feature. This demonstrates the need for accelerated cards. It allows 3D games to run more smoothly.
When using a three dimensional graphics card for acceleration, there are two main types to choose from. A combination 2D/3D card takes a standard 2D card and provides it with extra 3D power. Or you can use a pure 3D card, which sole purpose will to be to work as an accelerator.
While 3D acceleration is important, it is not something that you need to worry about adding to your video card. You would have to purchase a system that is several years old to find one that does not have three- dimensional acceleration already included in its setup.
