Video / Graphics Cards (GPUs)

AMD’s CrossFireX, Nvidia’s SLI and comparisons of graphics cards

Note that er Nvidia’s SLI technology or AMD’s CrossFire technology that makes it possible to use two graphics cards are both now outdated technologies. In any case, both of them turned out to be too problematic to be bothered with.  It is now possible and much better in all scenarios to use a single graphics card.

Tom’s Hardware provides a Graphics Card Performance Hierarchy Chart on the following page that lists graphics cards in the order of their performance:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32899-7.html

Here are two interesting articles on AMD’s CrossFire (now called CrossFireX) and Nvidia’s SLI:

FX Vs. Core i7: Exploring CPU Bottlenecks And AMD CrossFire [January 2013] –

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/fx-8350-core-i7-3770k-gaming-bottleneck,review-32616.html

Origin PC Millennium: 3-Way SLI And A 4.6 GHz Core i5 [December 2012] –

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/origin-pc-millennium-review-benchmark,review-32590.html

If a graphics chip is built into the PC’s motherboard or its processor, the graphics capability will usually be good enough to run office applications, use email programs, watch movies and web surfing, but seldom good enough to play the latest PC games at their full software settings for the hardware, of which anti-aliasing and the monitor’s screen resolution are probably the most well-known.

The reason than many people buy high-end graphics cards is because they provide an unparalleled level of PC gaming performance that exceeds the highest level of the game-stations (Xbox One, PlaySation 4, etc.) by a very long way. Here is an article on Tom’s Hardware that provides information and benchmark-testing results for a demanding PC game tested on no fewer than 12 graphics cards.

Medal Of Honor Warfighter Performance, Benchmarked [2 Nov. 2012] –

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/medal-of-honor-warfighter-performance-benchmark,review-32557.html

Any current onboard graphics provided by a chip on the motherboard or processor will be adequate for a workstation desktop or laptop PC, but would have to be specifically chosen if the latest gaming support is required.

The following webpage provides access to full lists of all of the graphics cards (with technical specifications) made by the major card manufactures from 1995 to the current date. NVIDIA and AMD (which used to be called ATI and still is in the lists provided) are now the two largest manufacturers.

The Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide –

http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=88&pgno=0

If you see a description of or come across a graphics card that has a X2 in its model name, it means that the card has two graphics processing units (GPUs), in effect making it two graphics cards in one.

Since most graphics cards use graphics chips made by NVIDIA or AMD, Wikipedia lists their specifications and the versions of DirectX and OpenGL that they support on these two pages:

Comparison of AMD Graphics Processing Units –

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_ATI_Graphics_Processing_Units

Comparison of NVIDIA Graphics Processing Units –

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nvidia_graphics_processing_units

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