Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

With the information age, the popularity of computers is getting higher and higher, and now almost every house is equipped with computers. And the hardware configuration of the computer is the key to determine the performance of the computer, when we generally DIY computers, the most important thing is to start with CPU, graphics card, memory, motherboard and hard disk. Today we mainly talk about the knowledge of graphics card.

The definition and function of the graphics card we know that the computer data is binary, that is, "0" and "1". But we can't output "0" and "1" directly to the monitor, so we need to use the graphics card at this time. Graphics card, also known as display adapter, graphics adapter, is generally installed on the motherboard, and has an interface connected with the monitor, which is the "bridge" between the host and the display. It is used to control the data output of the computer, convert the data into images and output successfully.

The graphics card is mainly composed of video memory, display chip, digital-to-analog converter, VGA BIOS, interface and so on. One of the more important are the following three parts.

Video memory: the memory of the video card, which is used to store the data that needs to be processed.

Digital-to-analog converter: a converter that converts discrete data into analog.

VGA BIOS:Video Graphics Array Basic Input Output System, that is, the basic input and output system of graphics card.

While the graphics card needs to transfer the processed graphics to the monitor, it needs to go through the following process.

CPU transmits the data to the display chip in the video card through the bus.

The display chip processes the data and stores the data in the display memory.

According to the actual display device, the digital-to-analog converter determines whether the data in the display memory needs to be converted.

The digital-to-analog converter transfers the converted data to the display through the interface.

The classification and interface of graphics cards can be roughly divided into two categories according to whether they are integrated with the motherboard or not: integrated graphics cards and independent graphics cards.

Integrated graphics card refers to the GPU (graphics processing unit) built into the same package as the CPU (central processing unit). Integrated graphics cards generally do not have video memory, but use a part of the main memory of the system as video memory, and the specific number is generally automatically adjusted dynamically according to the needs of the system. Obviously, if the use of integrated graphics card to run requires a lot of memory space, the impact on the entire system will be more obvious.

Independent graphics card, as its name implies, independent graphics card is to make the display chip and related devices into a board card independent of the computer motherboard, and become a professional image processing hardware equipment. Its performance is much better than the integrated graphics card, not only can be used for general work, but also has a perfect 2D effect and strong 3D level. Generally speaking, we use independent graphics cards when playing games or using large office software.

There are four main interfaces for graphics cards: ISA, PCI, AGP, and PCI-E. But so far, there is no ISA, AGP graphics card interface on the motherboard of the computer, only a few PCI interfaces and PCI-E interfaces are left.

ISA:ISA interface is an early interface, which can be connected to network card, sound card and so on. Because of its low working frequency, slow transmission speed and poor performance, it is gradually replaced by PCI interface.

PCI: an interface with ISA at the same time, and the response speed is generally slow. CPU cannot read the data in the video card directly.

AGP: before PCIe appeared, it was the main interface of graphics card at that time, but its heat dissipation function has been criticized by people, so it gradually faded out of the market.

PCI-E: the bus type is different from PCI,CPU, which can read data directly, has fast response speed, high transmission rate and high compatibility than PCI.

So at present, most of the independent graphics cards use PCI-E interface.

The history and development of graphics cards when IBM launched personal computers in the 1980s, it also provided two types of graphics cards, monochromatic graphics cards (MDA,Monochrome Display Adapter) and color graphics cards (CGA,Color Graphics Adapter). In 1982, a more powerful MGA (Monochrome Graphic Adapter) graphics card was introduced, making graphics appear on personal computers for the first time.

In the process of advancing from the 2D era to the 3D era, the graphics card that can not be ignored is the Trident 8900Comp9000 graphics card, which for the first time makes the graphics card appear in the computer as a separate accessory rather than an integrated chip. Then its launch of Trident 9685 is the representative of the first generation of 3D graphics cards. However, it should be GLINT 300SX that can really open the door of 3D graphics card. Although its 3D function is very simple, it is of milestone significance.

In 1995, 3Dfx launched the industry's first real 3D graphics acceleration card: Voodoo.

From 1999 to 2000, NVidia finally broke out. In 1999, it launched the first generation of revolutionary graphics card including GPU (graphics processing unit, GraphicsProcessingUnit)-Geforce 256. The data originally calculated by CPU is directly handed over to the display chip for processing, which greatly liberates the CPU and improves the application efficiency of the chip.

After stepping into 2001, similar to Intel and AMD in the desktop processor market, the graphics card market evolved into a situation in which NVidia and ATI competed for supremacy. As for nVidia, it occupies a lot of market with the newly launched Geforce 3 series, while the rival ATI Radeon 8500 Unix 7500 series is manufactured by 0.15micron process and adopts a lot of new technologies.

In 2005, the PCI-E platform has been gradually understood and accepted by ordinary users. Graphics cards are also gradually entering the era of PCI-E platform. Just like AGP replacing PCI, the trend of PCI-E interface replacing AGP interface is inevitable. One thing is certain, however, that new technologies can always bring faster and better display to users, satisfying the sensory enjoyment of players' heart stimulation.

Naming rules for graphics cards how is the graphics card named?

Graphics card brands are mainly divided into NVIDIA and AMD:

NVIDIA graphics card, take NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 TI as an example.

NVIDIA: brand name of graphics card, Nvidia graphics card.

GeForce: the English trademark of graphics card products, is one of the core products of Nvidia.

RTX: represents the video card positioning, GTX represents the high end, GTS represents the middle end, GT represents the low end, and RTX represents the new generation of high end.

30: represents the generation, this graphics card is the 30th generation graphics card, the higher the performance, the stronger.

6: graphics card performance level positioning, the higher the number, the stronger the performance in this generation.

TI: stands for a special version. TI is the enhanced version, Super stands for the slightly enhanced version, SE weakened version, M is the mobile version (notebook), and no suffix represents the regular version.

AMD graphics card, take AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT as an example.

AMD: brand name of graphics card, AMD graphics card.

Radeon: the name of the video card series, such as Radeon, Radeon Pro, etc.

RX: the breakdown name of the video card.

6: represents the serial number, 6 represents the 6th series (or generation 6), basically the bigger the better.

70: graphics card performance level positioning, the higher the number, the stronger the performance in this series.

XT: represents a special version with roughly (not absolute) performance XTX > XT > XL / GTO > Pro / gt > SE. If there is no suffix, it represents the regular version.

As the price of bitcoin continues to soar in 2020, there will be a "mining craze" in China. Because of the general computing method used by the graphics card GPU, its multithreaded computing power is stronger and its computing power is more powerful. Lead to the crazy purchase of graphics cards, resulting in a card on the market is often difficult to obtain, so that the price of graphics cards increases crazily.

Now, with the decline in the price of Bitcoin and the standardized management of virtual currency by relevant state departments, the price of graphics cards has fallen and the industry has gradually returned to rationality. so most people think that the most important factor in the fluctuation of graphics card prices is the rise and fall of virtual currencies.

People's pursuit of good picture quality, AR / VR and other virtual scenes to land on the side of ordinary people, we will have higher and higher requirements for the performance of the graphics card. People's demand is the source and power of continuous technological breakthrough and innovation of graphics cards.

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: ZTE documents (ID:ztedoc)

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