Glossary:Graphics card
The GPU (Graphics Processing Unit, also known as a graphics card) is the processor that renders and outputs video from your computer to your screen.
GPU Manufacturers
The three main consumer GPU makers are Nvidia, AMD, and Intel.
Nvidia and AMD both market a full range of GPUs from very basic, to cutting edge. Nvidia's consumer line is marketed under the GeForce brand, and AMD's under the Radeon brand.
Intel's initial offerings in the consumer GPU space were under the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (Intel GMA) brand, and served only to provide basic video functionality to PCs. Very near the end-of-life for the GMA brand, Intel's chipset integrated chips began to compete with older, very basic GPUs from Nvidia and AMD; they are able to play old games at reduced settings. Recently Intel began moving away from chipset integrated graphics, and with the Core i3/5/7 line of chips began offering GPUs built into the CPU die. The current best offering is their HD3000 graphics core, found in some Sandy Bridge chips; it is capable of competing with basic cards in the current generation.
Identifying your Graphics Card
Using dxdiag (Windows Vista/7)
- Type 'dxdiag' into the Start search and hit enter
- On the 'Display' tab it should list your Device.
For Windows XP users open the 'Run' tool from the Start menu, then type 'dxdiag' there.
Checking the physical card
Desktop users can sometimes check the model number on the card itself. This is usually on a printed sticker. Type the model number into Google and hopefully it should tell you which GPU you have.
Using GPU-Z
- Go to TechPowerUp's website
- Download the latest GPU-Z and install.
- Open GPU-Z
GPU-Z can give you a lot more information than dxdiag could give you. Also great for monitoring voltages and temperatures.
RAM Type
At the moment there are two types of GPU-RAM: DDR3 and GDDR5. GDDR5 offers twice the performance compared to DDR3. A GPU intended for gaming should always have GDDR5. A GPU with 1024 GDDR5 RAM is more powerful than the same GPU with 2048 DDR3 RAM.
Multi-GPU
Some GPUs can be used in tandem with another GPU to boost the overall output of the cards. With Nvidia cards this technique is called SLI, with ATi cards it is called Crossfire.
Most PC games allow the gamer to tweak the settings of the game in order to improve looks and performance. There are many common terms you may come across.
Anti-Aliasing
Also known as AA. The main purpose of AA is to reduce the "jaggies" in a game, the pixelated edges along an object. A slightly more in depth description can be found here.
Anisotropic filtering
Also known as AF. The main purpose of AF is to sharpen the appearance of textures that are farther away from the player. It can noticeably increase visual quality, but can also be resource intensive. More information on AF can be found here.
High Dynamic Range
Also known as HDR. This increases the range of contrast making it much closer to how a human eye sees light.
Tessellation
A newer technique for DirectX 11. Tessellation uses the GPU to increase the complexity of the polygon mesh. This can infamously be seen in Crysis 2's concrete slabs.
Render Distance
Render Distance or View Distance is how far in the game world you can see. This can usually be increased to see farther in the game at the cost of performance. At lower settings, distant areas are covered by fog.
V-Sync
V-sync limits a games frame rate to match that of the monitor in use. This reduces screen tearing effect.