Gaargh, so much info, so much confusion, can't take it...
Got a question about graphics cards? Post it here...
Anyways, here goes...
Seems like the only 2 names that keep popping up are nvidia GeForce and AMD Radeon.
Are there any other players?...
Does nvidia only make GeForce cards, or do they have other graphics cards too?...
Does AMD only make Radeon cards, or do they have other graphics cards too?...
What's the deal with MSI? I see their name coupled with both GeForce and Radeon...
Only thing I can think of is that nvidia and AMD develop the graphics cards, and MSI actually makes them. Does that sound right?...
Does MSI make graphics cards themselves too that have nothing to do with nvidia / AMD?...
Graphics Cards Question Thread
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elmagicochrisg
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Graphics Cards Question Thread
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Re: Graphics Cards Question Thread
Let me try to explain all of that.
The 2 biggest players by far, are nVidia and AMD (who purchased ATI and their Radeon brand). They manufacture what is called the *chipset* for the card.
For nVidia, their current brand is the GeForce line.
For AMD, their current brand is the Radeon line.
What they do is put together the underlying technology, processors, specifications, etc. They do not actually manufacture any cards themselves. That is left to other certain companies, of which there are many of them. MSI is just one of the many companies that does just that. Other brands that manufacture video cards include eVGA and BFG, among many others. They receive the chipsets from nVidia and ATI, and their specifications, and the manufacturer will put together the cards and add various amounts of memory onto them.
Intel is also a player in the graphics business, but mainly for laptops.
Hope this helps somewhat.
The 2 biggest players by far, are nVidia and AMD (who purchased ATI and their Radeon brand). They manufacture what is called the *chipset* for the card.
For nVidia, their current brand is the GeForce line.
For AMD, their current brand is the Radeon line.
What they do is put together the underlying technology, processors, specifications, etc. They do not actually manufacture any cards themselves. That is left to other certain companies, of which there are many of them. MSI is just one of the many companies that does just that. Other brands that manufacture video cards include eVGA and BFG, among many others. They receive the chipsets from nVidia and ATI, and their specifications, and the manufacturer will put together the cards and add various amounts of memory onto them.
Intel is also a player in the graphics business, but mainly for laptops.
Hope this helps somewhat.
Xeogred wrote:The obvious answer is that it's time for the Dreamcast 2.
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elmagicochrisg
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Re: Graphics Cards Question Thread
Sure does...elmagicochrisg wrote:Hope this helps somewhat.
Let's see if I've got this right...
A company like AMD makes a brain. Then they give the schematics of said brain to for instance MSI and tell them to make that brain, put it in a body with 4 legs, 1 head, 2 kidneys and 1 liver. Once everything is made and put together MSI gives the complete product back to AMD. AMD puts their stamp on it and distributes the final product...
Both companies have their own specific R&D department. AMD to develop the brain. MSI to develop the best way to put that brain and all the other parts together in one final product. Heck, AMD might've even given MSI blueprints for a specific liver (or other parts) they developed to go with the brain...
Is that about right?...
I know, I've got a weird way of processing information...
Dreamcast DUX Limited Edition for sale (new, odorless and sealed)
All forum members are equal. But some are more equal than others. - George Orwell
Re: Graphics Cards Question Thread
(my own take on answering the original question, apologies for repeated information)
The simple way to look at it is that, at this point, computers effectively have two main processors, the Central Processing Unit, and the Graphics Processing Unit. The CPU handles general tasks, whereas the GPU handles specialty tasks. GPUs are very high performance processors, just designed for a much more limited range of operations.
In addition to the 3D graphics, many video decoding tasks can be handed off to the GPU, and increasingly things like video encoding or Photoshop filters as well. That said, outside of gaming, most of the other uses tend to plateau early - you won't normally get better video playback from a $300 card over a $100 one, though the $100 model might do better than the $50 one.
PC CPUs are primarily Intel and AMD, though others do exist. Both Intel and AMD usually integrate a basic GPU into their CPU these days (at one point integrated graphics were more a part of the motherboard's chipset).
For discrete GPUs, most of the market is dominated by nVidia and AMD. Their consumer/gaming oriented cards are GeForce and Radeon, respectively. They also have professional product lines, which are Quadro and FirePro. Those cards tend to be both much more expensive, and tuned for CAD/3D work rather than gaming.
Much like you can't walk into a store and purchase an Intel branded computer, neither nVidia or AMD currently produce their own retail video cards. They do make complete cards using the GPUs they release, just not for retail release. The so-called "reference design" boards are used for testing, as samples for the press, that kind of thing.
Manufacturers may choose to produce the exact reference design, may choose to use it as a starting point, or often will do both over the course of time. Usually sticking to the reference design to get product out the door at launch, and releasing more customized versions later to differentiate themselves on the market.
If you see a bunch of cards from different manufacturers that look practically the same except the sticker on the fan shroud...they're probably all reference designs. If cards look like they all have different coolers on them, slightly different clock speeds, and so on, then the manufacturers have done some tweaking.
In any case, they aren't handing things back to nVidia or AMD to sell. It's the same as Dell or HP sticking an Intel CPU in their PCs.
MSI has been popular recently due to the enthusiast community liking the cooler they've been using on their Twin Frozr labelled cards. Apparently works well and people have gotten good overclocking results. There are plenty of other good brands to go with too though.
The simple way to look at it is that, at this point, computers effectively have two main processors, the Central Processing Unit, and the Graphics Processing Unit. The CPU handles general tasks, whereas the GPU handles specialty tasks. GPUs are very high performance processors, just designed for a much more limited range of operations.
In addition to the 3D graphics, many video decoding tasks can be handed off to the GPU, and increasingly things like video encoding or Photoshop filters as well. That said, outside of gaming, most of the other uses tend to plateau early - you won't normally get better video playback from a $300 card over a $100 one, though the $100 model might do better than the $50 one.
PC CPUs are primarily Intel and AMD, though others do exist. Both Intel and AMD usually integrate a basic GPU into their CPU these days (at one point integrated graphics were more a part of the motherboard's chipset).
For discrete GPUs, most of the market is dominated by nVidia and AMD. Their consumer/gaming oriented cards are GeForce and Radeon, respectively. They also have professional product lines, which are Quadro and FirePro. Those cards tend to be both much more expensive, and tuned for CAD/3D work rather than gaming.
Much like you can't walk into a store and purchase an Intel branded computer, neither nVidia or AMD currently produce their own retail video cards. They do make complete cards using the GPUs they release, just not for retail release. The so-called "reference design" boards are used for testing, as samples for the press, that kind of thing.
Manufacturers may choose to produce the exact reference design, may choose to use it as a starting point, or often will do both over the course of time. Usually sticking to the reference design to get product out the door at launch, and releasing more customized versions later to differentiate themselves on the market.
If you see a bunch of cards from different manufacturers that look practically the same except the sticker on the fan shroud...they're probably all reference designs. If cards look like they all have different coolers on them, slightly different clock speeds, and so on, then the manufacturers have done some tweaking.
In any case, they aren't handing things back to nVidia or AMD to sell. It's the same as Dell or HP sticking an Intel CPU in their PCs.
MSI has been popular recently due to the enthusiast community liking the cooler they've been using on their Twin Frozr labelled cards. Apparently works well and people have gotten good overclocking results. There are plenty of other good brands to go with too though.
Re: Graphics Cards Question Thread
You got it. I'll give you another example.elmagicochrisg wrote: A company like AMD makes a brain. Then they give the schematics of said brain to for instance MSI and tell them to make that brain, put it in a body with 4 legs, 1 head, 2 kidneys and 1 liver. Once everything is made and put together MSI gives the complete product back to AMD. AMD puts their stamp on it and distributes the final product...
Both companies have their own specific R&D department. AMD to develop the brain. MSI to develop the best way to put that brain and all the other parts together in one final product. Heck, AMD might've even given MSI blueprints for a specific liver (or other parts) they developed to go with the brain...
Is that about right?...
I know, I've got a weird way of processing information...
I have a desktop PC that was made in 2004, and it had an integrated video chipset on the board made by VIA. I wanted something with more power and performance, so in 2008 I found a brand new eVGA GeForce 5500 FX card on eBay with 128MB memory. This particular card was manufactured by eVGA, but it uses the "brain" provided by nVidia, namely their GeForce 5500FX GPU. eVGA puts the PCB together, adds the memory and all the other tiny parts/circuits needed to make it complete. Your example was just right, like many body parts coming together to complete a human being.
Xeogred wrote:The obvious answer is that it's time for the Dreamcast 2.