cards

[Jedi Polliwog]

I know absolutely nothing about computers. Is a graphics card the same thing as a 3-D accelerator?

[HBK]

I'm not the most knowledgeable Jedi here, but since you haven't gotten any other responses so far...

I would say that a 3-D accelerator IS a graphics card, a graphics card is NOT always a 3-D accelerator. There are MANY kinds of 3-D accelerators.

Hope that answered your question. Please respond back if you need more clarification or answers.

And welcome to the forums. Hope you enjoy your stay.

HBK

[JaG|Kaiser]

Back in the day, there used to be video cards. A 3-D accelerator was an add-on card. With this setup, you had a video card, then a separate 3-D accelerator to handle the 3-D graphics.

Now, the cards have been combined into one. They are commonly described as "video cards" and "graphics cards." Now your video card handles 3D acceleration as well.

So, in summary:

3-D accelerator = add-on card that provides 3-D acceleration (not a standalone video card)

3-D Graphics Card = standalone video card that will also do 3-D graphics (standard nowadays)

[Jedi Polliwog]

Cool, thanks

[digl]

Originally posted by JaG|Kaiser
Back in the day, there used to be video cards. A 3-D accelerator was an add-on card. With this setup, you had a video card, then a separate 3-D accelerator to handle the 3-D graphics.

My good ol' Vodoo2...:)

[JaG|Kaiser]

Originally posted by digl

My good ol' Vodoo2...:)

Amen brother. I had the Monster 2 with 16 MB! The thing was as large as a TV tray! I then got a Voodoo2 from 3dfx. Those cards were great!