What is the role of a graphics card in a computer?

As a "graphic image manufacturing machine" in the computer, the graphics card not only allows us to appreciate the infinite charm of the graphics world, but also is the favorite ...... of all gamers1. First acquaintance with the graphics card The graphics card is an important accessory between the CPU and the display, so it is also called the "display card". The function of the graphics card is to convert the display data sent by the host computer into ** and synchronize the signal to the display under the control of the CPU, and finally output a variety of images by the display. Early graphics cards did not do all the work of image processing, they only acted as a kind of "bridge".

For example, if a computer wants to display a "circle" on the display, the CPU must first complete various calculations, and then send the results to the graphics card, which then converts the digital signal sent by the CPU to make it an analog signal that the display can recognize. With the advancement of technology, especially the emergence of graphics operating systems, people have integrated a graphics image processing chip that can quickly process image data on the graphics card, and equipped the graphics card with dedicated memory (that is, "video memory"). So the burden of graphics processing falls on the graphics card, which is responsible for graphics processing tasks.

In this way, the task of the CPU is greatly reduced, and the overall performance of the computer is greatly improved by such division of labor and cooperation. 2D 3D Graphics Accelerator 2D Graphics Accelerator Card is an abbreviation for early graphics cards, because at that time, graphics cards only had the ability to process 2D graphics. When the computer wants to process 3D graphics, its data calculation and processing must still be completed by the CPU Since 1997, the S3 company in the United States developed the S3 Virge DX chip, creating a precedent for (partial) 3D display data processing by the graphics card graphics processing chip, at that time, people called the graphics card with the 3D graphics processing chip 3D graphics acceleration card.

Graphics cards are also known as display adaptation cards, and the current graphics cards are all 3D graphics acceleration cards. It is an interface card that connects the host computer to the display. Its function is to convert the output information of the host computer into characters, graphics, colors, and other information, and transmit it to the display for display.

The graphics card is inserted into the ISA, PCI, AGP expansion slots of the motherboard, and the ISA graphics card is now basically obsolete. There are also some motherboards that have integrated graphics.

Each graphics card is basically composed of a "display main chip", a "display cache" (referred to as video memory), a "BIOS", a digital-to-analog converter (RAMDAC), a "graphics card interface", and capacitors and resistors on the card. The multi-function graphics card is also equipped with ** outputs as well as inputs for special needs. With the development of technology, most graphics cards now integrate RAMDAC into the main chip.

The structure of the graphics card is not very complicated, it has a 15-pin VGA output port, and the card has a graphics processing chip, display memory, and BIOS chip.

There will also be a 34-pin connector on the graphics card, called the LPB connector, which is used to connect decompression cards, TV cards, etc.

The performance of the graphics card mainly depends on the graphics chip used on the graphics card, the role of the early graphics chip is relatively simple, everything is handled by the CPU, they only play a role in transmitting display information, which reduces the display speed and increases the workload of the CPU. With the advent of the graphics operating system Windows, this drawback has become more and more serious, so the graphics acceleration card has appeared. Nowadays, most graphics cards have acceleration chips, and these chips have graphics processing functions, such as windows requires a circle, and you only need to tell the graphics card"Draw me a circle"The rest of the work is done by the graphics card, which does not require the CPU to calculate how to draw a circle, thus reducing the pressure on the CPU; However, such a graphics card needs to be equipped with more display memory.

There are more advanced graphics cards with coprocessors on the card, which can greatly reduce the CPU's processing graphics tasks.

1. The purpose of the computer graphics card is to convert the display information required by the computer system to drive the display, and provide progressive or interlaced scanning signals to the display to control the correct display of the display, which is an important component to connect the display and the motherboard of the personal computer, and is one of the important equipment of "man-computer dialogue".

2. The graphics card is mainly responsible for converting the display signal sent by the host to the display into a general electrical signal, so that the display can understand what the personal computer is asking it to do. The main chip of the graphics card is called the "display chip", which is the main processing unit of the graphics card. The graphics cards we use are equipped with 3D graphics and graphics acceleration functions, so they are also called "graphics acceleration cards" or "3D acceleration cards".