What is the graphics card?

Most graphics cards connect to the motherboard of your computer and their main utility is to display images on the monitor. The current ones are able to accelerate the creation of three-dimensional images as you see in games and video playback.

Although the normal thing is that they have a single output, and therefore you can only use a single screen, it is increasingly common to see adapters of this type capable of connecting up to four simultaneously.

A little history

The first graphics cards only had to display text. Things get a little more complicated when the use of graphics is generalized. In a short time, we went from having only four colors with the famous CGA cards, up to 16.7 million current models.

The technology of these devices has evolved in parallel with that of games. Because the users of this type of programs are the most willing to invest money in this element. It was not until the appearance of the first 3D games that the graphics did not undergo a considerable improvement.

Before the accelerator cards appeared, the processor was the only one in charge of executing all the operations. Unfortunately, creating three-dimensional worlds is very expensive for a single mic. The creation of this type of image can be done concurrently. That is, at the same time that you are creating a zone you can calculate another one from the same screen. With the arrival of graphics cards, manufacturers include hundreds of specialized processors on the same chip for 3D imaging. Games can then be created with increasingly complex environments.

In principle, therefore, graphics cards were elements that were included independently in the equipment. But not all users have the same needs. The owner of a laptop, for example, needs a card that consumes little power, does not drain its battery, and takes up little space. Also, most people don't use their PC to play games with very complicated three-dimensional scenarios.

For these reasons, integrated graphics cards appear. It was decided to include the chip on the motherboard but removing certain functionalities, therefore taking up less space and consuming less. A conventional graphics card that wants to function as a graphics accelerator needs a large amount of memory. This stores both the images to be displayed and the textures of the objects. In the case of an integrated card, the card uses the RAM of your PC, which makes this type of card slow down your computer.

The next step was the logical one. Using current cards not only for games, but they can also speed up video playback and processing. As with 3D imaging, these types of utilities take advantage of the ability to process information concurrently.

The evolution of cards collides with that of processors. Due to the improvement of manufacturing technologies, it is easier to create processors with a greater number of functionalities. This can be clearly seen in Intel microphones such as Sandy Bridge or AMD Fusion where a graphics card is included inside the CPU.

Graphics card models according to their integration

Discreet

These are the most common that you can find on a desktop PC. They connect directly to the motherboard through an expansion port. It is also common to find configurations with several cards like the ones you can get thanks to SLI or Cross Fire.

Integrated on motherboard

Very common in laptops and netbooks, the functionality now gives us a chip that is on the motherboard and although they may contain some memory they would normally use the RAM of the computer.

Integrated with the processor itself

They are found in the new microphones which make use of the RAM memory of the equipment. It is clear that this is the future but we are facing the first steps of this technology.

Models according to the connection cable to the monitor

VGA

Developed by IBM. Very sensitive to both interference and cable length. Their biggest disadvantage is that they do not include the audio signal. You need an additional cable to connect it to a TV and watch videos or movies.

DVI

The first standard for fully digital PC. In this way, it becomes more resistant to interference. There are several connectors under this name with different characteristics and some are even capable of carrying audio.

HDMI

The higher resolution screens require a connector that can carry the signal without loss of quality. In this case, the audio signal is incorporated.

Display Port

Able to include audio and video. It can be used to connect multiple monitors and include stereoscopic 3d signals that are no more than two signals, a different one for each eye to create the three-dimensional effect.

Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt is based on Displayport, specifically in the mini display port. You can connect external PCI Express devices with the same features as if they were inside the box.