What other capabilities does a graphics card have???

[Crazy!]

I understand it seriously enhances graphical quality when running demanding 3d etc applications i.e games, but I've also read that it generally enhances the following:

- You will be able to run more demanding applications at once

- Overall graphical quality on computer will be enhanced i.e. internet images, video files and graphics on computer generally

- It will also increase computer responsive speed i.e. when using the internet, running applications and doing general things on the PC.

So it will increase the speed and performance of the computer aswell due to it's clock speed etc etc, is this true, I thought that I had to buy something like a processor to do that???

Thanks in advance

PS - If it does more let me know.

 

[Jale]

- You will be able to run more demanding applications at once

Since having a video card restores the amount of RAM used by your onboard one, this is false. This is a job for RAM memory.

- Overall graphical quality on computer will be enhanced i.e. internet images, video files and graphics on computer generally

That depends on the card, but it's true somehow. For video files it's true because it uses hardware acceleration.

- It will also increase computer responsive speed i.e. when using the internet, running applications and doing general things on the PC.

False. That's RAM and processor's job.

So it will increase the speed and performance of the computer aswell due to it's clock speed etc etc.

Same as above.

PS - If it does more let me know.

• DirectDraw applications (ie. 2D games and emulators such as ZSNES) will run faster, smoother and nicer.
• Project64 will have better compatibility (less graphics bugs).
• 3D games will be a lot faster regarding FPS (depends in how fast the core is).
• If the card supports shader technology (DirectX 8 or later), 3D games that support it will look a lot nicer (ie. water reflection/refraction, bloom/overbright effect, combustion, bump mapping, etc).
• More color depth in textures.

And many more...

Look at this pic, for example. It compares DirectX 7, 8 and 9 technologies with "Half-Life 2: Lost Coast".

 

[Crazy!]

Cool, thanks alot Butters, so a video card does do alot of cool things for the PC, I knew it was the Processor or RAM which dealt with the other things such as general computer responsive speed (Just thought i'd make sure). I'm glad to hear it enhances emulation a great deal and supports 3D applications greatly (I already knew that! Lol) Project 64 will be better, WAHAAYY! Some cards I've been looking at support shader technology so this is cool!

Thanks

EDIT, cool pic, my computer as it is, could NOT play that game at all I don't think, I've got Direct X 9 I think, the Direct X 9 HDR looks best obviously, really cool graphics WOW! How would I know if I had HDR with my Direct X 9 or does HDR come with a graphics card??

 

[Jale]

Don't confuse that DirectX 9 you install on your PC with the DirectX 9 support of the card.

HDR is a feature that has to be enabled by a game, it's not a card feature. For example, don't expect to see HDR effects in older games like Quake II or Half-Life, since they were not designed to use HDR.

How would I know if I had HDR with my Direct X 9 or does HDR come with a graphics card??

Any card that has DirectX 8.1 or better is HDR and pixel shader compatible, as far as I know. I've been playing Half-Life 2: Lost Coast on my DirectX 8.1 card and it supports both pixel shader (SmartShader for ATI) and HDR.

Project 64 will be better, WAHAAYY!

Only if you use at least a DirectX 8 compatible video plugin such as Jabo's D3D8.

By the way, the term HDR is used only on Half-Life 2 because of its Source engine. HDR is commonly known as bloom or overbright effect.

Here's another example of bloom effect on Need for Speed: Most Wanted:

Oh, by looking at the pic you can notice that the card supports motion blur too.

 

[Crazy!]

Hey Butters, thanks for explaining everything, these pics looks wicked, I know for a fact my computer could not cope well at all with these games at present. I'm aware that the graphics card you have isn't too expensive and is an affordable price, it is a Radeon card right? I'm gonna be getting a different one though I think, after I've decided I'm gonna be a right happy chappy, when I can play games like you can.

PS- Are these pics snapshots of your games?

Thanks

 

[Jale]

No, they're not, but they look closely like that, if not exactly.

My card is DirectX 8.1, but I recommend you to get a DirectX 9 card for nice graphics.

And yes, it's a Radeon.

 

[Crazy!]

Cool, I think it's gonna be easy enough to pick a good card, I think I've got enough info to go by now, but I might just ask some more questions, I know me... Thanks Butters, I'll be back soon, being my great annoying self

 

[Jale]

Oh, I just forgot another interesting feature: Anti-aliasing. You can use it even if the game wasn't designed for it.

Left: No anti-alias.
Right: Anti-alias.

Anti-aliasing is an edge smoothing feature.

Of course that every feature I told you before (pixel shader, anti alias, etc) affects performance. A very stable setting is to play at a resolution of 640x480 and up to 1024x768. If you ever want to play on a TV (it's possible that the card you're going to buy has a TV-Output port) set the TV resolution to 640x480 or 720x480. Don't go beyond 720x480 or it will look ugly and blurry, unless you have a plasma or LCD TV.

 

[Crazy!]

Cool info thanks, I probably will try playing games on my TV!