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[Shadowlord]

I just realized that I didn't know what a graphics card was or what it did.

BUT THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE

[overseer05-15]

I just realized that I didn't know what a graphics card was or what it did.

BUT THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE

Does it make the picture a lot better or a little better or

[EnigmaticHat]

Graphics card is what makes the picture.

Computers can make a picture if they don't have a card because many CPUs and some mother boards come with an integrated graphics card.  Every computer needs some kind of graphics something, or you just aren't going to see anything on the screen (excepting BIOS IIRC).

The jump from an integrated card to a full on seperate card should make the picture a LOT better.

[Greiger]

Depends on the card.  Most(not all) computers come with a basic graphics chip built in on the motherboard (Integrated Graphics).  Those use some of your computer's own resources to operate. Like you may buy a computer that advertises 4 gb of ram but when you turn it on and check it says it only has 3.8 GB or something, the integrated graphics system has reserved some of it for it's use.

But there are also cards that go into expansion ports that are essentially an additional specialized motherboard just for handling graphics.  Graphics Cards.  All graphics systems have their own CPU (called a GPU) that process graphical information more efficiently and quicker than a CPU can.  Graphics cards typically have a more powerful GPU, dedicated cooling, and dedicated ram built into the card itself, resulting in higher frame rates for graphics intensive games and programs than otherwise.

Generally the better you have the faster it can process those images.  But different graphics systems can process images in different ways, sometimes causing images to appear slightly different on separate cards usually not in noticeable ways but some people will swear by specific types of cards.  Newer and better cards can often make an image look better with better shader handling, better anti aliasing and such, but the graphics system can only work with what the program you are using can give it.

A cutting edge graphics card won't make DF look any better, but you'll be able to run more graphical intensive games at higher settings before you notice shuddering and poor framerates.

EDIT: And yea without any kind of graphics system you won't see anything but a black screen with some text on it at startup.  Which is why most computers come with integrated graphics.  With really only PCs marketed towards power users not always having them built in.  Even if you have one built in, a graphics card can still be added to improve it.  But this is where the depends on the card comes in.  I have friends that have purchased graphics cards that are actually worse than the one integrated into their computer.

[overseer05-15]

That explains so very many conversations I've heard about them. Thanks for the explanation, the Wikipedia page is either impenetrable or I'm too tired to understand it.

[Kot]

ARMA and Squad seem outdated now.

[i2amroy]

Computers can make a picture if they don't have a card because many CPUs and some mother boards come with an integrated graphics card.  Every computer needs some kind of graphics something, or you just aren't going to see anything on the screen (excepting BIOS IIRC).

To be truthful it's not exactly that your computers need a graphics card, it's just that if you wanted to see anything graphical other than basic DOS text-stuff you need to program some sort of graphics into the computer. That graphics program is usually built into the drivers of the graphics card that you install (and the average computer is set up to work that way), though there are a few cases (such as working with really small embedded systems) that you might end up programming one of your own directly onto the chip itself.

[Draignean]

That explains so very many conversations I've heard about them. Thanks for the explanation, the Wikipedia page is either impenetrable or I'm too tired to understand it.

A crucial point that a lot of people miss about graphics cards, and that I have to throw in, is that they're really just specialized blocks to handle highly parallelizable math problems. Sending an array of pixels to the screen is not difficult, it's an operation that can be done with near flawless precision on pretty much anything above a potato. Doing video is just an extension of that, which makes it MUCH easier than playing a game. (Difficulty of 4k gaming >>> difficulty of 4k video)

In a game, the graphics card runs lighting calculations, processes shading info, typically handles physics, determines what is and what isn't drawn, actually performs the transforms on various mesh structures, etc.

Short version, actually printing pixels on your screen is the smallest part of what graphics cards do, which is why you can look at a picture of practically arbitrary resolution (that your monitor supports) on nearly any semi-modern integrated, but that same card will choke on a poorly optimized pixelated retro game that invokes the graphics card for physics and doesn't fucking clean after itself because its dev is an orange jumpsuit wearing ass hat.

[Rolan7]

Haha!  I almost made the same joke
But then I joined in... oops...

[Kot]

WOMBLE IS A...









...wait, we can't use that word here.
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...

[overseer05-15]

I'm not sure that this is the best place to strike up religious debate, lads.

RE: Consoles...

Doesn't look like you practice what you preach

So I'm not the only one who thought that was weird.

[Akura]

Yay, stomach virus. Or possibly food poisoning. Managed to hold on to my stomach up until I emptied about a gallon of my breakfast, lunch, and as-yet-unconsumed dinner onto the side of the highway on the way home. Sorry for the imagery._{Not really.}

Bought a bottle of Pepto Bismol at the convenience store, was more than I thought but cheaper than what my mother thought. Drank a dose, and feel a million times better.

WOMBLE IS A...

...wait, we can't use that word here.
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...

This has been bugging me ever since I started watching his videos, but what the hell is a womble? Is it like a wombat?

[TD1]

It's a wombat born under the Taurus star sign.

[hector13]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Eric Blank]

Them's terrifying