History of GPUs As Fast As Possible
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We've come a long way since Pong was state-of-the-art. Let's have a look at some of the milestones in computer graphics over the years. TunnelBear message: TunnelBear is the easy-to-use VPN app for mobile and desktop. Visit tunnelbear.com to try it free and save 10% when you sign up for unlimited TunnelBear data. Follow: twitter.com Join the community: linustechtips.com Licenses for images used: creativecommons.org creativecommons.org
History of GPUs As Fast As Possible traces the evolution of graphics hardware from the earliest dedicated video subsystems to modern high performance GPUs. The video begins by noting that early game hardware was largely CPU-driven or was a basic video controller, with discrete GPUs only emerging in the mid 1980s as specialized chips like the texas instruments tms-3401 and the commodore amiga graphics subsystem began to offload rendering tasks. It explains how 2d acceleration enabled by these early cards transformed everyday PC graphics, while new APIs such as opengl in 1992 and directx in 1995 provided a software framework that allowed game studios to target multiple GPUs and hardware configurations. The rise of true 3d graphics in the late 1990s is highlighted, with cards like s3's verge, the 3dfx voodoo line, and ATI’s rage series pushing 3d capabilities further though not without early limitations and quirks, such as the verge being seen as slow for 3d tasks. A pivotal moment occurs with nvidia’s 1999 geforce 256, the first card to combine 3d acceleration with per pixel shading, setting the stage for a new era of richer visual effects and paving the way for the geforce 2. The narrative then covers the competitive shakeout in the early 2000s, including the decline of 3dfx and the dominance of nvidia and ati, followed by major architectural shifts like the move to pci express, the introduction of sli and crossfire, and the 8800 gtx with a unified shader architecture that enabled parallel processing on GPUs beyond graphics tasks into general purpose computation. The video concludes with a look at the ongoing expansion of GPU capabilities, including multi-monitor surround gaming, 4k display support, and the expectation that GPUs will continue to evolve at a rapid pace far beyond today’s capabilities as gaming and research demand more performance. Throughout, the host uses a brisk, engaging delivery to connect historical milestones with modern GPU capabilities, helping viewers appreciate the rapid pace of change in graphics hardware and its impact on gaming and computation.
Topics · technology · history · science_and_tech · gaming · hardware
Questions answered
- What was the first consumer 3D graphics card to gain widespread attention, and why was it significant?
- The 3dfx voodoo, released in 1996, was one of the first consumer cards dedicated to 3d rendering and helped establish the importance of dedicated 3d acceleration, including supporting multi gpu configurations with its glide API.
- When did GPUs start handling per pixel shading and complex lighting on a graphics card rather than the CPU?
- With the GeForce 256, released in 1999, which introduced a unified processor capable of per pixel shading and transforming 3d scenes, signaling the shift of heavy graphics tasks from the CPU to the GPU.
- What architectural change in 2006 significantly boosted GPU computing power and graphics performance?
- The 8800 GTX introduced a unified shader architecture with many stream processors, enabling parallelized graphics tasks and paving the way for general purpose GPU computing.