Nvidia 4000 - e-GeForce MX 128MB DDR PCI Graphics Card User Manual

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38and textures; the drivers need to handle ten (10) times more extensivedata. This results in slower 3D pipeline operations between the CPUand the graphics controller.Q5 If we use powerful CPUs, such as a Pentium™ 200, can a standard2D graphics card achieve 3D performance?AnswerYes and no. Software rendering can take advantage of "tricks" learnedby force of necessity through years of trial and error. With suchstratagems, the speed of software rendering for simple scenes canapproach that of low-level hardware 3D rendering. On the other hand,as scenes become more complex (or frame sizes become larger),there are conflicts between using the CPU for high-level game logic,geometry, lighting, and rendering, all of which increase their demands.No current CPU or system can perform advanced quality-enhancements (bilinear filtering and alpha blending) in real time. Evengeneral case texture mapping with RGB lighting is too much for thecurrent CPU generation.Q6 What does "software 3D" mean?AnswerSoftware 3D is generally used to mean using non-specific (2D)hardware in conjunction with the CPU to render for 3D applications.Some of these techniques allow usable 3D applications when high-powered and/or MMX™-equipped CPU's are employed along withspecial-case software optimization techniques. As stated above, SW3D can achieve credible results with today's (software optimized)applications, but the rising popularity of good 3D hardware at theconsumer price level is inexorably compelling the public to expecthardware level scene enhancements and frame rates.Q7 What is “SGRAM”?AnswerSynchronous Graphics Random Access Memory (SGRAM) is a newand improved type of memory, custom-designed for graphics use.Q8 What is the advantage of as compared to ordinary DRAM?AnswerSGRAM is now capable of running at much higher speeds than FastPage Mode or EDO DRAM. Also, is able to execute a small number offrequently executed operations, such as buffer clears, specific tographics applications, independently of the controller.