1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:19,000 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I am an executive producer for I Heart Radio, 4 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech and I'm just back 5 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:24,799 Speaker 1: after a week off on vacation, and I nearly forgot 6 00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 1: how my intro goes. So that shows how my brain works. 7 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: But enough of that. So I follow a lot of 8 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: gamers and streamers, and there's some folks I just, you know, 9 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:41,240 Speaker 1: find really entertaining, and when their love of games comes 10 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: through on top of them being entertaining, I know I've 11 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,319 Speaker 1: really hit something that appeals to me. And in mid 12 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: September twenty it seemed like every single person I followed 13 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: was chatting about something called the r t X thirty 14 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:59,280 Speaker 1: ninety or in some cases, the thirty eight. And the 15 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: gamers elt they're already know exactly where I'm headed on 16 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: this one. But while I love video games, I'm not 17 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: exactly dialed into the heart of hardcore competitive gaming. And 18 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: so I had no clue what the heck this thing was. 19 00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:16,959 Speaker 1: I mean, I had an inkling, but I had to 20 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 1: look it up. And it's a new high performance graphics 21 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: card with a graphics processing unit or GPU. So today 22 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: I thought we would talk a little bit about GPUs 23 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 1: in general, where they originated, why they're important for modern games, 24 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:34,960 Speaker 1: and why they can be so hard to get hold 25 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: of as well as so expensive. And here's another interesting tidbit, 26 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: the main reason they're hard to get hold of has 27 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 1: nothing to do with video games. Will also cover why 28 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,400 Speaker 1: the r t X thirty eight and the thirty nine 29 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: cards have had a well, let's call it a troubled launch. Now, 30 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: despite the fact that graphics cards have been around for 31 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 1: more than two decades, there's still something that I have 32 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: only had limited experience with. And here's where the grumpy 33 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: old man Jonathan comes out to, you know, shake his 34 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,919 Speaker 1: fist at a passing cloud. See. I come from a 35 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:18,840 Speaker 1: time when your CPU, the amount of RAM your computer had, 36 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: and the operating system you were running were really the 37 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 1: only things that mattered when it came to which games 38 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: you could actually play on your machine or how well 39 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: those games would perform on your PC. Heck, I remember 40 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:36,239 Speaker 1: when games first started requiring that your PC run on Windows, 41 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: and I was a Windows holdout. I preferred the fast 42 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: responsiveness and lighter framework of DOSS. The doss user interface 43 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: consisted of command prompts. You would actually type in stuff 44 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: in a line command to change directories and navigate to 45 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 1: where a file was, and then type out the execute 46 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: file to really get it started. Now, it wasn't actually 47 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: hard to do, but it also was not intuitive at all, 48 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: and it stood as a barrier for the average person 49 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: to you know, embrace computers. Windows made stuff easier to understand. 50 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: You just, you know, move your cursor to the picture 51 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: that represents whatever it is you want to do, and 52 00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: then you click on it. That was super simple. But 53 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:26,080 Speaker 1: Windows also required more processing power from the PC, and 54 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: so I was of the snooty opinion that I would 55 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: rather set aside that power for the stuff I was 56 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: running on the computer, apart from the operating system. That's 57 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: how old I am. Also, Eventually it didn't matter. Eventually 58 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 1: games started requiring Windows and I had to give in. 59 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 1: Over time, game developers began building out games that required 60 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: more umph from the PCs that were running the games, 61 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,360 Speaker 1: and sometimes that meant you just had to have, you know, 62 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: a pretty recent CPU to run the game, which meant 63 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: that if you were relying on a computer that was 64 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: a year old or older, you might be out of 65 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: luck unless you could upgrade your machine, or you know, 66 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: and really severe cases, you'd have to go out and 67 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: buy a whole new one. But one thing that PCs 68 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:17,600 Speaker 1: had that really opened up some opportunities were expansion slots 69 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:23,000 Speaker 1: built into the motherboard. Now, these are standardized slots that 70 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,840 Speaker 1: are that are built into that mother board. There's been 71 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:29,279 Speaker 1: a couple of different standards over the years, but pc 72 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: I expresses the current one. The motherboard is the main 73 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 1: circuit board of a PC. That's where you'll find components 74 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: like the CPU that connect to other components like memory 75 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 1: or the power supply will connect to the motherboard to 76 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: supply power to all the components. So motherboard manufacturers would 77 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 1: frequently include slots that would allow for additional cards to 78 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: plug into the circuit board, thus expanding the capabilities of 79 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:03,839 Speaker 1: your PC. All the wiring, all the circuitry was there 80 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,040 Speaker 1: to work with the other parts of the motherboard. So 81 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: if a card manufacturer, you know, a company that makes 82 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 1: expansion cards, as long as they adhered to the standard, 83 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 1: then you could buy the card, you could open up 84 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,040 Speaker 1: your computer case, you could plug the card into one 85 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: of those pc I express slots. These days, on the motherboard, 86 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,039 Speaker 1: you reassemble the case, you know, make sure everything's lined 87 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: up properly with the backplate of your case, and voila, 88 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: you've got added functionality to your PC without having to 89 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: replace the whole darn thing. And manufacturers made all sorts 90 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 1: of cards, and I think I first really became aware 91 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: of this upon the release of various sound cards, which 92 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: would allow PCs to produce all sorts of wondrous sounds, music, 93 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:52,839 Speaker 1: and spound special effects, that kind of thing. The early 94 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:56,840 Speaker 1: PCs could essentially just beep. I mean, even R two 95 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: D two had a more extensive vocabulary, but sound cards 96 00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: allowed for virtual orchestras to play on your machine. By 97 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: the way, if you seek out videos of early sound 98 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,719 Speaker 1: cards playing computer music, you're probably gonna laugh at my 99 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: description because it definitely sounds primitive compared to what a 100 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: PC out of the box can do these days. Now. 101 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:24,839 Speaker 1: Graphics cards followed close behind sound cards. The first card 102 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: to be described as having a graphics processing unit was 103 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: the G Force two fifty six from in Video in Videos, 104 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:37,440 Speaker 1: the same company that's behind the recent rt X thirty 105 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: eight cards. By the way, more on that later. But 106 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:46,720 Speaker 1: what the heck does a graphics card actually do well. 107 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: It's first good to remember what a CPU or central 108 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:57,479 Speaker 1: processing unit does. It's the CPUs job to execute instructions 109 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:01,839 Speaker 1: upon data. The data flows into the CPU from input 110 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: devices like a keyboard or a touch screen, as well 111 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: as from stored locations like a computer memory or hard drives, 112 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:14,000 Speaker 1: and the instructions come from programs or input devices. And 113 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: instructions are mathematical operations, So it might be something as 114 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:21,120 Speaker 1: simple as add this one really big number to that 115 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 1: other really really big number, and then compare the result 116 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:29,200 Speaker 1: to this other number, whereupon a specific outcome will follow 117 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 1: based on that comparison. Really, everything your computer does is 118 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:37,720 Speaker 1: a result of processes like this. You could think of 119 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 1: it as I choose your own adventure book, which I 120 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 1: guess also kind of dates me. But by that I 121 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: mean you can think of a path that branches into 122 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: lots of other potential pathways, and the results of a 123 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: math problem determine which of those potential pathways you actually 124 00:07:54,120 --> 00:07:58,120 Speaker 1: go down. Now, we describe the speed of a CPU 125 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: as terms of clocks. Speed that refers to the number 126 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: of pulses the CPU generates every second, and these regular 127 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: pulses synchronize operations on the computer, and they determine the 128 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: speed at which the CPU can carry out instructions on data. 129 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: So generally speaking, the higher the clock speed or clock 130 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: rate of a computer, the more instructions CPU can carry 131 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: out per second, and the quote unquote faster the processor is. 132 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:34,439 Speaker 1: We express this in terms of hurts h E R 133 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:39,000 Speaker 1: t Z. That refers to cycles per second. One pulse 134 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 1: would be one cycle. So if you have a computer 135 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: with a three point two giga hurts processor, that processor 136 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:51,680 Speaker 1: is pulsing three point two billion times every second. As 137 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: game developers began making more sophisticated games, particularly as the 138 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: era of three D graphics dawned, meaning you know, graphics 139 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:04,320 Speaker 1: that appeared to be three dimensional rather than a two 140 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:08,559 Speaker 1: dimensional representation, you know, the more like cardboard cutout looking stuff. 141 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:13,319 Speaker 1: Before the three D graphics era, that's when CPUs were 142 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:16,200 Speaker 1: starting to hit a choke point. The CPU has to 143 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 1: handle pretty much all the processing, though in some cases 144 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: you might have what's called a coprocessor to tackle specific 145 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:29,959 Speaker 1: subsets of mathematical problems. Graphics cards would become another type 146 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 1: of coprocessor. They would shoulder the work of processing the information, 147 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:39,520 Speaker 1: specifically relating to presenting graphics on a display and remove 148 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: that responsibility from the CPU, freeing it up so it 149 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: could continue to work on you know, other stuff. Together, 150 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: the CPU and the GPU could handle all the processing 151 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:53,840 Speaker 1: that the game required and create a really cool experience 152 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: for the player, you know, for a price. It was 153 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:02,040 Speaker 1: right around this time, in the late nineties when I 154 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:06,319 Speaker 1: got out of PC games for a pretty long time. See, 155 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:10,080 Speaker 1: I had grown frustrated with the need to update my 156 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:12,560 Speaker 1: machine on a regular basis if I wanted to play 157 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:16,080 Speaker 1: the latest games. I hated the idea of having to 158 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: buy an expensive graphics card every so often and then 159 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:24,200 Speaker 1: also upgrading my entire computer, or at least replacing the 160 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 1: CPU every couple of years. On top of that, I mean, 161 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:31,720 Speaker 1: come on, these these components are expensive. Buying a new 162 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,640 Speaker 1: computer is even more expensive. And in the late nineties, 163 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: I was what we like to call poor, or at 164 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:41,080 Speaker 1: least I wasn't making enough money to be able to 165 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:43,720 Speaker 1: keep up with that cycle of upgrading if I wanted 166 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:46,800 Speaker 1: to play the latest games. So I fell off of 167 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: PC games for a really long time, and instead I 168 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:52,800 Speaker 1: saved up my money and made a switch over to 169 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:57,280 Speaker 1: consoles like the Nintendo sixty four. That kind of stuff, 170 00:10:57,640 --> 00:11:01,199 Speaker 1: because one thing you can depend upon with consoles, at 171 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:05,840 Speaker 1: least until more recent generations have proven otherwise, is that 172 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:10,560 Speaker 1: a game that's released on launch day of a console, 173 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: the day the console comes out, and a game that 174 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 1: is released at the very end of a console's life 175 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:21,120 Speaker 1: cycle should both run just fine on that console. Now, 176 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:24,400 Speaker 1: the later games should be better as developers learn how 177 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 1: to optimize for a console's hardware, but both games should 178 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 1: run just fine. You you don't have to worry about 179 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 1: your console not having the capacity to run the game. 180 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:40,480 Speaker 1: Consoles aren't designed to be upgraded generally, and so game 181 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:43,760 Speaker 1: developers have to work within those limitations and optimize their 182 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 1: games to run on standardized hardware. PCs are totally different. 183 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:54,719 Speaker 1: PCs can come in up entire spectrum of capacities and capabilities, 184 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 1: and generally speaking, game developers want to make the coolest 185 00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: stuff out there, so they're taking aim at the heavier 186 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,480 Speaker 1: hitting end of the PC market. Usually there are ways 187 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:09,600 Speaker 1: to reduce settings so that you can at least play 188 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:14,240 Speaker 1: more advanced games on more modest hardware, but at some 189 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: point you just feel like you're no longer giving the 190 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:21,040 Speaker 1: experience you want and you feel obligated to upgrade now. 191 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:24,079 Speaker 1: Even though I got out of the whole PC gaming 192 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:27,760 Speaker 1: thing for a long time, it turns out that the 193 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: PC game industry was going strong without me, which I 194 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:37,840 Speaker 1: personally find very insulting. Developers were making increasingly impressive games, 195 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: and GPU companies like in Video followed suit by creating 196 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: more capable graphics cards, and that was really a necessity 197 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:51,680 Speaker 1: that ties into a Rye observation about computing power. Okay, 198 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:55,000 Speaker 1: so a lot of folks have heard about Moore's law, 199 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 1: which we usually use in reference to how computer processing 200 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:03,559 Speaker 1: speeds improve over time. The original observation Gordon Moore made 201 00:13:03,679 --> 00:13:08,680 Speaker 1: decades ago was that, due to market factors, silicon chip 202 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: manufacturers were cramming about twice as many components onto a 203 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 1: single square inch of a silicon wafer as they had 204 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 1: two years previously, and they do this by shrinking down 205 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,400 Speaker 1: those individual components so they're about half the size as 206 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:28,320 Speaker 1: they had been, and that as long as the market 207 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:31,680 Speaker 1: continued to place this kind of demand on an increase 208 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: in processing power, that trend would likely continue until it 209 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: would become physically impossible to achieve because you just could 210 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:44,000 Speaker 1: not reduce the components in size any further due to 211 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:47,960 Speaker 1: the limitations of physics. Now these days we dumb all 212 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:52,599 Speaker 1: that down to say essentially that computers double in processing 213 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 1: power about every two years, So a typical computer in 214 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:01,679 Speaker 1: twenty has about twice the processing capability of a typical 215 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: computer from However, there's another observation called Worth's law, and 216 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:13,400 Speaker 1: it's named after a Swiss computer scientist named Nicholas Worth. 217 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:18,439 Speaker 1: The Worth himself credited another computer programmer named Martin Riser 218 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:22,640 Speaker 1: with the idea. Worth's law states that the demands of 219 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:28,520 Speaker 1: software grow faster than the increase in capability of hardware. 220 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,880 Speaker 1: So while processing speed was doubling every two years, the 221 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:38,200 Speaker 1: demands of software were such that this otherwise incredible increase 222 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:42,720 Speaker 1: in capability was hard to detect because the software of 223 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: the time that people were writing was growing more demanding. 224 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: This also would feed into the perception that a computer 225 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: would become obsolete super fast. Like you know. The joke 226 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:57,920 Speaker 1: was that by the time you got a computer home 227 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 1: from the store and you got it out of the 228 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: box and you plugged it in, it would be outclassed 229 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 1: by a brand new PC unveiled at the very same 230 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:10,120 Speaker 1: store where you bought yours. From and while that was 231 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 1: an exaggeration, it often felt like it was pretty close 232 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: to the truth. The software bloat was forcing people to 233 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,840 Speaker 1: either rely on older programs that could still run on 234 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 1: their PCs, or else cough up the cold hard cash 235 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 1: to buy a new computer or upgrade their current machine. Now, 236 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:34,800 Speaker 1: this cycle was felt throughout the entire PC community, but 237 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:40,840 Speaker 1: gamers felt it particularly acutely Worth observation or you know, 238 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: risers if you prefer, though truthfully, people were already kind 239 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:48,640 Speaker 1: of becoming aware of this general trend around that same time. Anyway, 240 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:53,080 Speaker 1: that observation was published in the first graphics card to 241 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:57,280 Speaker 1: have what in video called a g PU would debut 242 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 1: a couple of years later. The GPU U was in 243 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: many ways a response to the problem presented by Worth's law. 244 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 1: Game developers were coming up with lots of new tools 245 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,920 Speaker 1: that allowed them to build more spectacular games, but that 246 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:17,120 Speaker 1: in turn placed increasingly heavy demands on computers. Graphics cards 247 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:20,720 Speaker 1: were a necessity to meet those demands that the games 248 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 1: were placing on the computer systems, and it in turn 249 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 1: helped perpetuate this cycle. I'll explain in more detail how 250 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:32,400 Speaker 1: graphics cards help out, but generally speaking, it's a pretty 251 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:38,200 Speaker 1: simple concept. The graphics card has its own microprocessor, similar 252 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:42,760 Speaker 1: in many ways to a CPU, but a CPU is 253 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:46,200 Speaker 1: a general purpose device now. That means it needs to 254 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: be able to handle a wide spectrum of different tasks, 255 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 1: and processors are a lot like people in this way. 256 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 1: If you dedicate yourself to learning how to do one thing, 257 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:03,640 Speaker 1: like really focus on just one thing, then eventually you're 258 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 1: likely to get super good at that one thing. You've 259 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:10,520 Speaker 1: blocked everything else out. If, however, you decide you want 260 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 1: to be a jack of all trades, you want to 261 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: learn lots of things, chances are you will not reach 262 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: the same level of expertise with any single task as 263 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:23,800 Speaker 1: you would if you had just focused on that specific task. 264 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: You can do all of them, and maybe you can 265 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,200 Speaker 1: even do them well, but not at the same level 266 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:34,040 Speaker 1: as if you had specialized. Well. The GPU is like 267 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:37,920 Speaker 1: a specialist. It doesn't have to handle all the other 268 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:41,760 Speaker 1: tasks that a CPU has to perform. It can focus 269 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:46,119 Speaker 1: on more specific types of operations, which means chip designers 270 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 1: can create a more efficient architecture to carry out those 271 00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:55,920 Speaker 1: specific processes. Specializing allows the GPU to perform a subset 272 00:17:55,960 --> 00:18:00,280 Speaker 1: of tasks far more efficiently. Than a typical CPU could day. 273 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:03,639 Speaker 1: When we come back, I'll go into this a little 274 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:15,080 Speaker 1: bit more, but first let's take a quick break. Before 275 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:18,159 Speaker 1: the break, I talked about the motherboard. You know, the 276 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:21,919 Speaker 1: primary circuit board in a computer. The motherboard has the 277 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:25,280 Speaker 1: circuitry that connects the CPU to the different components in 278 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:28,879 Speaker 1: the system, like memory and stuff. Well, a graphics card 279 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,760 Speaker 1: is at its heart a printed circuit board that in 280 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:37,320 Speaker 1: many ways is similar to a motherboard. It's smaller and 281 00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 1: it's designed to connect to the mother board itself, but 282 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:42,800 Speaker 1: it's got a lot of the same stuff you will 283 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:47,119 Speaker 1: find on a typical PCs motherboard. At the heart of 284 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:50,119 Speaker 1: the printed circuit board in the graphics card is the 285 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:54,560 Speaker 1: graphics processing unit itself, or the GPU, but you'd also 286 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:58,680 Speaker 1: have RAM dedicated to the GPU, just as the mother 287 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:02,520 Speaker 1: board has its own AM dedicated to the CPU. So 288 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:04,520 Speaker 1: I guess I should give you guys as a quick 289 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:09,719 Speaker 1: reminder of what RAM is. RAM stands for random access memory, 290 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,800 Speaker 1: and it's a type of temporary computer storage. The purpose 291 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: of RAM is to hold information that the CPU, or 292 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:21,240 Speaker 1: in the case of the graphics card, the GPU needs 293 00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:24,960 Speaker 1: to reference frequently. So RAM access kind of short term 294 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,760 Speaker 1: memory a quick reference for these processors, and RAM helps 295 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:33,280 Speaker 1: reduce the weight time for a program to complete an operation. 296 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:36,360 Speaker 1: So when your computer is running a program, it will 297 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 1: load some information into RAM. This is the stuff that 298 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:44,000 Speaker 1: the processor is going to need most frequently to do 299 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:47,560 Speaker 1: whatever the program needs it to do. Now, RAM has 300 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:52,439 Speaker 1: a limited capacity with most PC manufacturers, including you know, 301 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:55,440 Speaker 1: some RAM, but they don't max it out. They leave 302 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 1: it up to the end consumer who can choose to 303 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:00,680 Speaker 1: purchase more RAM and then in to all it on 304 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:05,240 Speaker 1: the motherboard. Typically, not all motherboards allow you to do this. Uh, 305 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:09,800 Speaker 1: some companies are less open to you adding more memory 306 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:14,840 Speaker 1: to their systems. Cough Apple cough. The motherboard itself will 307 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,920 Speaker 1: have limitations to how much memory it can support. There 308 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:21,480 Speaker 1: is a top cap. You can't just keep adding RAM 309 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:25,720 Speaker 1: chip after ramchip. You will eventually cap out. And that 310 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:28,280 Speaker 1: also means that eventually you have to do a more 311 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:32,760 Speaker 1: extensive upgrade to keep up with evolving technology, as you 312 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:36,800 Speaker 1: will eventually encounter components that the old motherboard just can't support, 313 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:39,520 Speaker 1: so you'll have to you know, go up a step. 314 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 1: You could, I guess keep pulling parts out of your 315 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:46,879 Speaker 1: PC and replacing them bit by bit but sometimes it 316 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:48,399 Speaker 1: just gets to a point where it's better to go 317 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 1: ahead and build a whole new machine. By loading information 318 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:56,760 Speaker 1: into RAM, the computer limits how frequently the processor has 319 00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:59,760 Speaker 1: to send a command to retrieve information from the longer 320 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:03,960 Speaker 1: term storage like a hard drive disk, and that process 321 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:08,200 Speaker 1: takes a little longer, actually much longer in computer terms, 322 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 1: than accessing information that's stored in RAM. So you've likely 323 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,280 Speaker 1: heard that one way to speed up your computer is 324 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:19,200 Speaker 1: to add more memory. Now the computer itself isn't actually 325 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:23,880 Speaker 1: operating faster. Rather, it can load more information into that 326 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:28,320 Speaker 1: temporary memory that RAM, and thus reduce the need to 327 00:21:28,359 --> 00:21:31,879 Speaker 1: go hunting for the information in long term storage. That 328 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:36,440 Speaker 1: cuts down on delays and lags. So the processor isn't 329 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:39,359 Speaker 1: going faster just because you added RAM to it, It 330 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:42,159 Speaker 1: just doesn't need to send as many retrieve requests for 331 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:46,040 Speaker 1: data that's stored on a hard drive. For example. Graphics 332 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:49,800 Speaker 1: cards typically have a decent amount of RAM on them, 333 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:52,760 Speaker 1: sometimes beyond decent. Some of some of those graphics cards 334 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,120 Speaker 1: have way more memory on them than my current PC 335 00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:59,640 Speaker 1: has in it, and that's just on the graphics card. 336 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:03,200 Speaker 1: But that allows the GPU the same sort of benefits 337 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,600 Speaker 1: that the CPU enjoys with the RAM that's on the 338 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 1: PCs motherboard. Another important component is the connections between the 339 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:16,400 Speaker 1: processor and the memory. This is what we call a bus. 340 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 1: A bus is sort of like a data pathway. The 341 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:23,439 Speaker 1: capacity of the bus and the actual distance between the 342 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:26,680 Speaker 1: processor and the memory can have an effect on how 343 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:30,120 Speaker 1: quickly information can move from one component in the system 344 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:33,440 Speaker 1: to the other. And really, when you start looking at 345 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:37,040 Speaker 1: computer speeds and you're looking at, you know, the the 346 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 1: edge of computing, like the cutting edge, it really becomes 347 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: a game of find where the bottle neck is. Is 348 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 1: the bottleneck the processor, well, then you need something that 349 00:22:47,280 --> 00:22:50,720 Speaker 1: has a higher clock rate, or is it a limitation 350 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 1: in the system's memory. Then you need more RAM or 351 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: is it the actual connection between the components. Then you 352 00:22:57,119 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 1: might even need an upgraded motherboard with a more robust 353 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:04,360 Speaker 1: bus between processor and memory. So it all comes down 354 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:06,960 Speaker 1: to figuring out where's the slow point, where's the weak 355 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:10,760 Speaker 1: link in this chain. The RAM on a graphics card 356 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:14,879 Speaker 1: tends to have a dual port design, meaning the system 357 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 1: can both read and write to RAM simultaneously. Now, in 358 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:23,680 Speaker 1: the simplest design, you could do one or the other, 359 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:26,359 Speaker 1: but you couldn't do both at the same time. With 360 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:29,920 Speaker 1: older graphics cards, the RAM also connects to a component 361 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,840 Speaker 1: called the digital to analog converter or DACK d A C, 362 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:38,000 Speaker 1: and then together you would sometimes find both of these 363 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 1: terms smush together. You would have RAM and DACK together 364 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: to make RAM DAK. The purpose of that component is 365 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:47,600 Speaker 1: to take digital information, which at its heart is binary, 366 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,199 Speaker 1: you know, in the form of zeros and ones, and 367 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:54,440 Speaker 1: then convert that into an analog signal, which is continuous 368 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:59,000 Speaker 1: and a changing signal that is capable of sending information 369 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:03,800 Speaker 1: to like CRT monitor. However, today we have plenty of 370 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:07,600 Speaker 1: digital displays and digital cable stuff like h d M 371 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:10,840 Speaker 1: I that carries digital signals, and that makes the converter 372 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:14,440 Speaker 1: component less critical. It's not really something that you would 373 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 1: necessarily hear much about with graphics cards these days because 374 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:23,760 Speaker 1: it's just not necessary. The hardware people are buying doesn't 375 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:29,679 Speaker 1: require the converter. Modern graphics cards typically support multiple displays. 376 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:32,520 Speaker 1: You know, chances are a lot of you out there 377 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:35,680 Speaker 1: have systems where you have at least two displays. I've 378 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:38,720 Speaker 1: got two in front of me right now. The pc 379 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:42,960 Speaker 1: I Express connector on modern motherboards allows for support for 380 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 1: up to four monitors, though not all graphics cards can 381 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,520 Speaker 1: actually do that, not all of them have four connections 382 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:54,240 Speaker 1: for displays. The r t X thirty nine, the monster 383 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,560 Speaker 1: card that kind of prompted this whole episode, that one 384 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:00,199 Speaker 1: can support up to four monitors, and it as a 385 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:04,480 Speaker 1: maximum resolution display of seven thousand, six hundred eighty by 386 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:08,440 Speaker 1: four thousand, three twenty pixels, which we tend to just 387 00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:12,600 Speaker 1: you know, it's say, is an eight K resolution. In 388 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,160 Speaker 1: other words, and just in case you need a refresher, 389 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:20,720 Speaker 1: resolution refers to the pixel density on a screen. Pixels 390 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:24,159 Speaker 1: are points of light, so generally the more points of 391 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:27,879 Speaker 1: light you have per square inch to to make an image, 392 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 1: the smoother the image will be. I often talk about 393 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 1: using like think about wooden blocks that a kid plays with, 394 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,680 Speaker 1: and think of them in different colors, like just nice 395 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:40,919 Speaker 1: primary colors. If you were to try and make a 396 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:43,240 Speaker 1: picture out of those blocks, it would be very blocky. 397 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:46,120 Speaker 1: You would see the edges of each block as they 398 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:48,399 Speaker 1: were up against each other, and it wouldn't be a 399 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:50,520 Speaker 1: very smooth image. You might be able to make something 400 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:53,320 Speaker 1: people could recognize, but it wouldn't look very smooth. If 401 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:57,720 Speaker 1: you reduce the blocks size and half and you increase 402 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:01,240 Speaker 1: the number of blocks, you can make a slightly less 403 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,720 Speaker 1: blocky looking image. You keep doing that over and over, 404 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:08,600 Speaker 1: reducing the pixel size and cramming more pixels in, and 405 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:14,640 Speaker 1: you create smoother images up to a point, right, Uh, 406 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 1: you get a point of diminishing returns where it can 407 00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:22,160 Speaker 1: be tricky to detect a meaningful difference when you're getting 408 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:26,000 Speaker 1: to ultra high resolution displays. For instance, I remember looking 409 00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:29,280 Speaker 1: at two K, four K, and eight K displays at 410 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:33,359 Speaker 1: CS and not being able to really tell the difference 411 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:40,400 Speaker 1: unless the screens were truly enormous, like huge displays. Uh, 412 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,760 Speaker 1: and if I had the benefit of, you know, holding 413 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:44,920 Speaker 1: a magnifying glass so I can look at the pixels 414 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,160 Speaker 1: up close. But hey, at eight K resolution, you could 415 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,840 Speaker 1: take a tiny section of a screen shot, you could 416 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:54,800 Speaker 1: blow that tiny section up to a full screen size 417 00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:58,320 Speaker 1: and it would probably still look pretty good. Anyway, Let's 418 00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:01,119 Speaker 1: get back to the more general discus of graphics cards. 419 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:04,320 Speaker 1: The early graphics cards were really dedicated to creating three 420 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:08,399 Speaker 1: dimensional images out of binary data, and that involved building 421 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:12,160 Speaker 1: out a wire frame for the image with straight lines 422 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:16,439 Speaker 1: that would end in little points, you know, connecting to 423 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:19,160 Speaker 1: other straight lines, and the more straight lines. You use 424 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:21,919 Speaker 1: the smoother you can make the edges very much like 425 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:25,520 Speaker 1: the resolution of displays, and then on top of that, 426 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:28,479 Speaker 1: you would fill in all the pixels that would exist 427 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:32,120 Speaker 1: between those lines. You would add in effects like color, texture, 428 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:34,639 Speaker 1: and lighting, and you would have to do that many 429 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,960 Speaker 1: times per second, which is made more complicated by the 430 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:40,840 Speaker 1: fact that these images are not still images. They are 431 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:43,800 Speaker 1: changing over time, and in the case of video games, 432 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:46,440 Speaker 1: you might have a ton of things happening within the 433 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:51,160 Speaker 1: field of view simultaneously. You also get into a pair 434 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:55,800 Speaker 1: of terms that are easy to get mixed up, refresh 435 00:27:55,920 --> 00:28:00,119 Speaker 1: rate and frame rate. The refresh rate is how frequently 436 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:03,800 Speaker 1: a computer display will refresh an image on screen. So, 437 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 1: for example, the Razor Raptor twenty seven gaming monitor. By 438 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:10,920 Speaker 1: the way, none of this is part of like sponsored 439 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:15,520 Speaker 1: content or anything. I'm just using specific versions of things 440 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:19,680 Speaker 1: to kind of have concrete examples. Anyway, this this particular 441 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,439 Speaker 1: gaming monitor has a refresh rate of a hundred forty 442 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: four hurts, and that means that the pixels on that 443 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:30,320 Speaker 1: display refresh one forty four times per second. Now, on 444 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:33,200 Speaker 1: top of that, you've got the demands of how smoothly 445 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:35,119 Speaker 1: the video game runs and you can think of the 446 00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 1: action of a video game being kind of analogous to 447 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:43,040 Speaker 1: film or just playing video. And you may know that 448 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:47,160 Speaker 1: movie film consists of a strip of film onto which 449 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:50,920 Speaker 1: you have a sequence of still images. Standard film playback 450 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:55,920 Speaker 1: speed is twenty four frames or images per second, meaning 451 00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:59,280 Speaker 1: that for every second of movie, you are looking at 452 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:03,520 Speaker 1: a sequence of twenty four pictures. And the speed of 453 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:07,800 Speaker 1: this playback is sufficient to fool our dumb, meaty brains 454 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:11,320 Speaker 1: into thinking that we're watching stuff that's actually moving. It's 455 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:16,120 Speaker 1: the illusion of movement. Well, video games create the same 456 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:18,280 Speaker 1: sort of thing, and that you're watching a series of 457 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:22,600 Speaker 1: very quick instances of pixels that represents something going on, 458 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: like I don't know, Pacman fleeing from a ghost or something. 459 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:29,200 Speaker 1: Though I'm told by the besties that we've come a 460 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:33,480 Speaker 1: long way since Pacman. But we described this as the 461 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:37,560 Speaker 1: frame rate of a video game. How frequently the graphics 462 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:41,760 Speaker 1: card generates the frames that are shown on the display 463 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,240 Speaker 1: in terms of frames per second. So while the two 464 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:48,600 Speaker 1: terms refresh rate and frame rate both deal with graphics, 465 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:53,720 Speaker 1: they are separate concerns. Generally speaking, you want more frames 466 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:57,920 Speaker 1: per second to create a smoother experience, though Again, once 467 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:00,719 Speaker 1: you get above a certain amount, you are to encounter 468 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:04,320 Speaker 1: diminishing returns, meaning that you get to a point where 469 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:07,320 Speaker 1: if you increase the frame rate you really can't tell 470 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,880 Speaker 1: the difference, but at lower levels we definitely can spot 471 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 1: the difference. The same is true resolution. A game that's 472 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:17,040 Speaker 1: running at twenty frames per second or less is going 473 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:21,880 Speaker 1: to appear choppy. It's probably unplayable because gamers are going 474 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:26,320 Speaker 1: to miss key information and thus be incapable of reacting properly. 475 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:30,240 Speaker 1: Games running at around thirty to forty five frames per 476 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:33,680 Speaker 1: second are pretty good. I mean, they're okay, though elite 477 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:37,720 Speaker 1: gamers who have you know, crazy refined skills would probably 478 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:41,080 Speaker 1: find it insufficient. And these are people who can see 479 00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:44,360 Speaker 1: faster than I can based on my observations of viewing 480 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:47,120 Speaker 1: their live streams. Though again, to be fair, I'm viewing 481 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:51,400 Speaker 1: a live stream which includes the compression of their video 482 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:54,880 Speaker 1: image before it gets to me, so what I see 483 00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:58,280 Speaker 1: is not exactly the same thing that what they see. Anyway, However, 484 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,960 Speaker 1: most serious gamers really want frames per second rate of 485 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:06,440 Speaker 1: at least forty five, and preferably sixty or even more. 486 00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 1: But as I said, once you get above sixty, it 487 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:12,320 Speaker 1: becomes harder to tell the difference, and it means that 488 00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:15,120 Speaker 1: the graphics card has to work super hard to keep up. 489 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:18,200 Speaker 1: So it might make use of a frame buffer, which 490 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:20,440 Speaker 1: is sort of like a holding space in memory that 491 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:23,840 Speaker 1: can serve up a corresponding image when it's needed, but 492 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,959 Speaker 1: it still has to work super hard. Because you can 493 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:29,800 Speaker 1: just imagine how much work it is for a processor 494 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:33,640 Speaker 1: to generate the information necessary to create a high resolution 495 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:37,960 Speaker 1: image complete with complex textures and lighting effects, and to 496 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:41,480 Speaker 1: do so at least sixty times per second, perhaps for 497 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,760 Speaker 1: sessions that can last for hours. You realize that graphics 498 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:48,680 Speaker 1: cards need a good amount of power. As they got beefier, 499 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:52,880 Speaker 1: the power requirements of the graphics card exceeded what the 500 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:56,920 Speaker 1: cards could draw using the motherboard connection through that pc 501 00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:00,520 Speaker 1: I express slot I was talking about. Those are did 502 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:05,440 Speaker 1: to providing up to seventy watts. Graphics cards frequently need 503 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:09,520 Speaker 1: an excess of two fifty maybe three wats of power, 504 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:13,240 Speaker 1: so that necessitated the inclusion of a separate power port 505 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:17,200 Speaker 1: that would plug directly into the PC's power supply itself. 506 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:20,040 Speaker 1: That also meant that gamers often needed to upgrade their 507 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:23,720 Speaker 1: power supply on their PCs to supply the juice that 508 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:28,200 Speaker 1: the graphics card needs. As the GPU does all this 509 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:32,080 Speaker 1: work with this much power, it generates a lot of heat. 510 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:35,480 Speaker 1: And that's because no machine that we create is perfect. 511 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:40,040 Speaker 1: Every machine we humans make experiences some conversion of energy 512 00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:45,440 Speaker 1: from one useful form into another form, like heat, which 513 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:49,680 Speaker 1: we typically think of as lost energy, because remember, energy 514 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:53,720 Speaker 1: can neither be created nor destroyed. You can convert it 515 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:57,680 Speaker 1: from one form into another, and if the energy converts 516 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:01,320 Speaker 1: into heat, that heat tends to just dissipate into other 517 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:04,440 Speaker 1: parts of the system, or out of the system into 518 00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:08,600 Speaker 1: the bigger system around it. That energy is effectively gone. 519 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:11,480 Speaker 1: You have lost it. But on top of that, heat 520 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:16,120 Speaker 1: and electronics don't get on very well. Overheated electronics can 521 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:19,400 Speaker 1: cause lots of failures, and for that reason, high performing 522 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:23,840 Speaker 1: graphics cards have heat mitigation and management systems built into them. 523 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:28,520 Speaker 1: One common component is the heat sink, which is kind 524 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,640 Speaker 1: of what it sounds like. It's an object that disperses 525 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:36,920 Speaker 1: heat away from the heat generating object. A common heat 526 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:40,360 Speaker 1: sink is a series of fins made of a thin 527 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:44,760 Speaker 1: thermal conductor. So the fins provide a larger surface area 528 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:47,840 Speaker 1: for heat to move across it. Moves out from the 529 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:50,720 Speaker 1: processor and starts to go through these fins and it 530 00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:56,360 Speaker 1: dissipates more easily. But GPUs and often CPUs generate way 531 00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,160 Speaker 1: too much heat for fins to handle without a little 532 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:02,640 Speaker 1: extra help. Usually that help comes in the form of 533 00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:07,240 Speaker 1: a fan, which circulates air across the fins and pulls 534 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:11,720 Speaker 1: heat away from them. High performing graphics cards are truly 535 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:16,120 Speaker 1: beasts these days in large cases that have their own 536 00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:19,400 Speaker 1: fans that are built into the case of the card 537 00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:22,920 Speaker 1: itself in order for them to help pull heat away 538 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:26,160 Speaker 1: from the heat sink. More advanced forms of heat control 539 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:30,120 Speaker 1: include things like water cooling systems, in which tubes of 540 00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:35,319 Speaker 1: water move underneath various components and absorb heat from those 541 00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:39,600 Speaker 1: components and carry the heat away from the processor to 542 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:43,319 Speaker 1: go through a heat exchanger, essentially a radiator also made 543 00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:46,040 Speaker 1: out of fins. So these fins take the heat from 544 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:49,279 Speaker 1: the water, cooling the water down so that it can 545 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:52,480 Speaker 1: continue to circulate through the system, pull more heat from 546 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:56,480 Speaker 1: the processor, take it to the fins, et cetera. Typically, 547 00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:59,160 Speaker 1: the fins are also cooled by a fan, so there's 548 00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:02,640 Speaker 1: like multiple elements to this particular system. There's lots of 549 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:05,560 Speaker 1: points of failure too. So these things not only are 550 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:10,600 Speaker 1: they expensive and complicated, they can they have more points 551 00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:12,839 Speaker 1: of failure. Doesn't mean that they're less reliable, just means 552 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:16,920 Speaker 1: that there's more opportunities for stuff to go wrong. However, 553 00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:20,040 Speaker 1: it might be necessary if you're really running some of 554 00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:23,920 Speaker 1: these graphics components at their highest capabilities, and you can 555 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:25,920 Speaker 1: kind of think of this as the circle of life, 556 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:29,360 Speaker 1: or at least the circle of a heat exchange system. 557 00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:32,040 Speaker 1: I've got some more to say about g p U s, 558 00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:36,000 Speaker 1: but before I get to that, let's take another quick break. 559 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:46,400 Speaker 1: So one thing I haven't really touched on in this 560 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:50,520 Speaker 1: episode yet is the practice of over clocking. So remember 561 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:54,279 Speaker 1: when I said that we measure processor performance speed and 562 00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:57,840 Speaker 1: part by talking about the clock rate. Well, process or 563 00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:02,640 Speaker 1: manufacturers typically set an upper limit on a processor's clock rate. 564 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:05,400 Speaker 1: Usually this is to make sure that the processor is 565 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:09,040 Speaker 1: going to perform reliably under what's considered to be normal 566 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,759 Speaker 1: operating conditions, and sometimes it can get a little more 567 00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:16,040 Speaker 1: icky than that. There have been some processor companies that 568 00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:20,520 Speaker 1: have used the exact same chip with different limiting factors 569 00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:23,799 Speaker 1: on the clock rate in order to offer up a 570 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:26,920 Speaker 1: range of products at a range of prices. So you 571 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:30,319 Speaker 1: can have an entry level chip and then maybe a 572 00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:33,759 Speaker 1: moderate chip, and then maybe a premium chip, each with 573 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:36,440 Speaker 1: a different clock rate. But it turns out all three 574 00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:39,160 Speaker 1: or the exact same chip. It's just that the manufacturer 575 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:42,800 Speaker 1: has put a kind of artificial limit on how fast 576 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:46,600 Speaker 1: the chip can run. That doesn't happen all the time, 577 00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:49,040 Speaker 1: but it has happened before, and I personally find that 578 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:53,279 Speaker 1: kind of weird because the capability was there for all three. 579 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:57,080 Speaker 1: It's not like the price of the premium chip for 580 00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:01,000 Speaker 1: the manufacturer was greater than the entry level chup. It's 581 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:04,720 Speaker 1: the same chip cost the same amount to make it anyway. 582 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:10,040 Speaker 1: That's another topic. So the fact is most processors can 583 00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:14,520 Speaker 1: operate at a higher clock rate than what manufacturers rate 584 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:17,919 Speaker 1: them for, and with a little tweaking, you can make 585 00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:21,839 Speaker 1: those processors operate at that faster rate. That is, you 586 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:25,839 Speaker 1: can if the motherboard and processors that you have are 587 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:29,640 Speaker 1: the right models. Some systems put really hard limits on 588 00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:31,920 Speaker 1: that kind of stuff and prevent you from changing the 589 00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:35,239 Speaker 1: clock rate on a processor to any real degree. But 590 00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:38,840 Speaker 1: if your system allows for overclocking, you would make the 591 00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:42,120 Speaker 1: changes in the computer's bios. Maybe you're using some special 592 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:44,520 Speaker 1: software to do it to make it, you know, easier 593 00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:48,320 Speaker 1: to manage, and you would essentially be increasing the clock 594 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:52,600 Speaker 1: rate and probably also boosting the voltage that is going 595 00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:57,160 Speaker 1: to the processor. Essentially you push more voltage through more 596 00:37:57,200 --> 00:38:02,080 Speaker 1: pressure to the processor, it will work faster. That's the 597 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:06,400 Speaker 1: kind of loosey goosey way to explain it. Overclocked processors 598 00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:09,280 Speaker 1: can lead to better results when it comes to stuff 599 00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:12,200 Speaker 1: like you know, rendering graphics at a high frame rate, 600 00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:15,680 Speaker 1: but it can also cause stability problems with a PC, 601 00:38:16,160 --> 00:38:19,600 Speaker 1: and it also generates way more heat. Serious gamers who 602 00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:24,759 Speaker 1: over clocked their systems really should look into water cooling systems. 603 00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:28,120 Speaker 1: In the competitive overclocking scene, I mean like these people 604 00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:31,799 Speaker 1: are pushing the limits to what overclocking can do, It's 605 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:36,160 Speaker 1: not unusual to see competitors use extreme cooling solutions like 606 00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:40,760 Speaker 1: liquid nitrogen. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of minus 607 00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:46,400 Speaker 1: three degrees fahrenheit or minus one degrees celsius. That means 608 00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:51,600 Speaker 1: that at that temperature, nitrogen would boil off into a gas. 609 00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:54,120 Speaker 1: So you have to keep it colder than that to 610 00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:57,160 Speaker 1: keep it liquid, or you have to keep it under compression. 611 00:38:57,200 --> 00:39:01,440 Speaker 1: But neither here nor there anyway, that's that's pretty dang frosty. 612 00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:05,000 Speaker 1: It's also, by the way, not recommended for practical everyday use, 613 00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:08,080 Speaker 1: even for hardcore gamers. Now, if you do wish to 614 00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:12,320 Speaker 1: experiment with overclocking, there are a lot of useful resources 615 00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:15,080 Speaker 1: online for you to follow, and it's important to look 616 00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:18,960 Speaker 1: stuff up with your particular hardware because the process is 617 00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:23,000 Speaker 1: not uniform across all pieces of hardware. The one bit 618 00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:26,120 Speaker 1: of advice I would give anyone who wants to overclock 619 00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:29,880 Speaker 1: their system is to do so in very small increments 620 00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:33,799 Speaker 1: and run tests frequently to check to see what the 621 00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:37,880 Speaker 1: heat levels are and checking your computer stability. And then 622 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:41,399 Speaker 1: you can gradually bump up the overclocking rate bit by 623 00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:44,440 Speaker 1: bit as a test. And then once you start to 624 00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:48,000 Speaker 1: see a dip in performance or you see temperatures going 625 00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:50,680 Speaker 1: above a certain threshold, you can then back off a 626 00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:53,200 Speaker 1: little bit and say, okay, this is my new peak 627 00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:57,880 Speaker 1: for where my my my processor can work. And that 628 00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:01,200 Speaker 1: applies both to the CPU and the GP you. Now, 629 00:40:01,239 --> 00:40:05,200 Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier that the first generation of dedicated graphics 630 00:40:05,239 --> 00:40:08,280 Speaker 1: cards were really about handling some of the heavy lifting 631 00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:11,360 Speaker 1: when it comes to three D graphics. These days, there's 632 00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:14,040 Speaker 1: a lot more to it than that, and you've got 633 00:40:14,040 --> 00:40:17,680 Speaker 1: speed and detail and color representation all being a big deal. 634 00:40:18,040 --> 00:40:21,960 Speaker 1: But perhaps the most buzzy of buzzworthy terms to emerge 635 00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:27,040 Speaker 1: in the graphics seen lately is ray tracing. Ray tracing 636 00:40:27,239 --> 00:40:31,960 Speaker 1: ultimately is about how a computer system handles the display 637 00:40:32,120 --> 00:40:36,480 Speaker 1: of light, like how does it portray light on the display? 638 00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:39,440 Speaker 1: Not how does it get the image to your eyeballs. 639 00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:43,000 Speaker 1: But when you are playing a game where there are 640 00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:46,239 Speaker 1: you know, light is playing across the scene, how does 641 00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:48,920 Speaker 1: it handle that. The goal of ray tracing is to 642 00:40:48,960 --> 00:40:53,200 Speaker 1: create graphics systems in which light in the virtual world 643 00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:55,440 Speaker 1: behaves the same way it does out here in the 644 00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:59,200 Speaker 1: real world, complete with how light bounces off of objects, 645 00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:05,400 Speaker 1: how attos are created, what reflections look like, and more so, 646 00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:09,840 Speaker 1: imagine that you're walking through a real world forest and 647 00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:14,120 Speaker 1: sunlight is occasionally breaking through the forest canopy overhead in 648 00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:17,520 Speaker 1: some places. In person, this kind of experience would have 649 00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:22,160 Speaker 1: a lot of really subtle details in light that older 650 00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:26,400 Speaker 1: graphics cards just couldn't really replicate. So with those games 651 00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:28,239 Speaker 1: where you might be like in a jungle or in 652 00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:31,560 Speaker 1: a forest, you would typically have a more uniform approach 653 00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:34,719 Speaker 1: to how light was presenting itself. Within the game, you 654 00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:37,120 Speaker 1: might have some areas that are darker than others or 655 00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:40,800 Speaker 1: brighter than others, but the graphics cards weren't really able 656 00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:45,400 Speaker 1: to get super subtle and detailed about it. Now a 657 00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:48,680 Speaker 1: card that supports ray tracing might be able to do 658 00:41:48,719 --> 00:41:52,080 Speaker 1: a better job of that and other stuff as well. So, 659 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:56,640 Speaker 1: for example, a rain soaked street might reflect a neon 660 00:41:56,840 --> 00:41:59,200 Speaker 1: signed back at you in a really realistic way, and 661 00:41:59,239 --> 00:42:01,719 Speaker 1: as you move around own the light behaves just as 662 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:04,240 Speaker 1: it would in real life. This is actually a really 663 00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:07,120 Speaker 1: tricky thing to do. It requires a good deal of horsepower. 664 00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:10,439 Speaker 1: It also requires support from the software side. The game 665 00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:13,440 Speaker 1: has to include rate tracing for this to be a 666 00:42:13,520 --> 00:42:17,720 Speaker 1: thing after all, But the latest graphics cards often tellt 667 00:42:17,880 --> 00:42:21,120 Speaker 1: raid tracing as a big feature now. A few years ago, 668 00:42:21,600 --> 00:42:25,800 Speaker 1: the big buzzworthy term was HDR or high dynamic range. 669 00:42:26,719 --> 00:42:31,120 Speaker 1: HDR refers to the spectrum of luminosity that a display 670 00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:35,120 Speaker 1: can provide, which deals with both the range of colors 671 00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:38,080 Speaker 1: that the display can create as well as the range 672 00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:41,760 Speaker 1: of brightness per pixels. So it's a combination of color 673 00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:47,200 Speaker 1: and brightness and the the variety that the display can create, 674 00:42:47,239 --> 00:42:50,719 Speaker 1: and a system that supports HDR can typically create really 675 00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:54,799 Speaker 1: spectacular images. And this also reflects the fact that, you know, 676 00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:57,840 Speaker 1: image resolution is not the end all be all for 677 00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:01,520 Speaker 1: a long time, especially with camera man you factors, the 678 00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:04,720 Speaker 1: use of megapixels was the way to really push a camera. 679 00:43:04,800 --> 00:43:09,520 Speaker 1: More megapixels equals more good. That's not necessarily the case. 680 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:11,680 Speaker 1: There's a lot of other factors that play a part, 681 00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:16,200 Speaker 1: like contrast and color representation. Anyway, if you hear about 682 00:43:16,239 --> 00:43:18,880 Speaker 1: ray tracing, that's really what it comes down to, trying 683 00:43:18,920 --> 00:43:22,160 Speaker 1: to simulate within a virtual world the way light behaves 684 00:43:22,160 --> 00:43:26,000 Speaker 1: in the real world. Now, I mentioned earlier that graphics 685 00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:29,279 Speaker 1: cards at the top of the line ones can be 686 00:43:29,560 --> 00:43:33,720 Speaker 1: hard to find, and why is that. Well, not only 687 00:43:34,120 --> 00:43:37,440 Speaker 1: are they sought after by you know, real leite gamers, 688 00:43:37,880 --> 00:43:40,879 Speaker 1: but they also are often used by people who want 689 00:43:40,920 --> 00:43:44,120 Speaker 1: to do a lot of parallel processing with a networked 690 00:43:44,200 --> 00:43:48,440 Speaker 1: system of computers, typically to do something like bitcoin mining 691 00:43:48,760 --> 00:43:52,799 Speaker 1: or sometimes even breaking encryption. So let me explain. And 692 00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:56,839 Speaker 1: I've talked about parallel processing in previous episodes, including some 693 00:43:56,920 --> 00:44:01,160 Speaker 1: fairly recent ones, which it's all involved using two or 694 00:44:01,200 --> 00:44:05,640 Speaker 1: more processors or two or more processor cores to divide 695 00:44:05,719 --> 00:44:08,800 Speaker 1: up tasks so that it takes less time to complete 696 00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:12,040 Speaker 1: the overall task. You're breaking it down into parts, and 697 00:44:12,080 --> 00:44:14,720 Speaker 1: it's faster to solve the parts and is to solve 698 00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:18,600 Speaker 1: the thing as a whole. Not all computational problems can 699 00:44:18,640 --> 00:44:22,480 Speaker 1: break into a parallel approach, but for the ones that can, 700 00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:27,480 Speaker 1: parallel processing can speed things up considerably. One application of 701 00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:31,920 Speaker 1: parallel processing involves working out the potential answer two difficult 702 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:36,080 Speaker 1: math problems, which happens to be the way cryptocurrencies like 703 00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:42,880 Speaker 1: bitcoin verify transactions and subsequently reward the system that solves 704 00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:47,120 Speaker 1: the problem with some cryptocurrency. So, in other words, people 705 00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:50,360 Speaker 1: use bitcoins to make a transaction, right they pay for 706 00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:54,840 Speaker 1: something in bitcoin, The record of that transaction goes into 707 00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:57,600 Speaker 1: a block of data, and when that block is full, 708 00:44:57,640 --> 00:45:00,600 Speaker 1: when it's hit as many transactions as that can hold, 709 00:45:01,239 --> 00:45:03,719 Speaker 1: it has to be verified before it can join the 710 00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:08,799 Speaker 1: chain of previous blocks the block chain. The bitcoin system 711 00:45:08,840 --> 00:45:14,240 Speaker 1: devises a difficult math problem that will verify the transactions 712 00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:17,719 Speaker 1: and thus make the block the most recent in the 713 00:45:17,880 --> 00:45:21,480 Speaker 1: chain of transaction blocks. The first computer system to provide 714 00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:25,520 Speaker 1: the correct solution to this hard math problem gets some 715 00:45:25,600 --> 00:45:29,359 Speaker 1: bitcoins in return, and as long as the value of 716 00:45:29,400 --> 00:45:34,080 Speaker 1: the bitcoin reward is greater than what it cost to 717 00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:37,719 Speaker 1: get to that reward. There's an incentive to build out 718 00:45:37,840 --> 00:45:41,680 Speaker 1: faster computer systems to try and solve the problems before 719 00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:47,239 Speaker 1: anyone else does. Now, these high end graphics cards aren't cheap. 720 00:45:47,680 --> 00:45:52,080 Speaker 1: The founders edition of the rt X thirty nine, that is, 721 00:45:52,640 --> 00:45:55,920 Speaker 1: the version of the card that's actually built by Nvidia, 722 00:45:56,040 --> 00:45:59,360 Speaker 1: would set you back about one thousand, five hundred U 723 00:45:59,560 --> 00:46:02,960 Speaker 1: S dollars if you could find one. But as I 724 00:46:03,000 --> 00:46:07,080 Speaker 1: record this, the value of a single bitcoin is more 725 00:46:07,120 --> 00:46:11,480 Speaker 1: than ten thousand, seven hundred U S dollars, and if 726 00:46:11,520 --> 00:46:15,360 Speaker 1: you solved a block, you would actually net twelve point 727 00:46:15,640 --> 00:46:20,799 Speaker 1: five bitcoins, so that means one solution is worth more 728 00:46:20,800 --> 00:46:26,120 Speaker 1: than a hundred twenty five thousand dollars. And new blocks 729 00:46:26,239 --> 00:46:30,239 Speaker 1: joined the blockchain every ten minutes. So if you have 730 00:46:30,320 --> 00:46:34,719 Speaker 1: the fastest system trying to solve these bitcoin problems and 731 00:46:34,719 --> 00:46:37,800 Speaker 1: you're able to solve a significant number of them for 732 00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:41,239 Speaker 1: whatever span of time you're looking at, you're looking at 733 00:46:41,239 --> 00:46:44,920 Speaker 1: a fortune, which means there is a huge incentive for 734 00:46:45,000 --> 00:46:49,120 Speaker 1: bitcoin miners to sweep up powerful processors that could give 735 00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:51,920 Speaker 1: them the edge when it comes to solving those problems 736 00:46:52,160 --> 00:46:57,880 Speaker 1: and netting a ridiculous amount of money, virtual money, but money. 737 00:46:57,920 --> 00:47:02,200 Speaker 1: So they really want the those processors. They could buy 738 00:47:02,239 --> 00:47:05,440 Speaker 1: a hundred of these Nvidia cards and they could pay 739 00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:08,160 Speaker 1: it off by solving two blocks. Not that this is 740 00:47:08,239 --> 00:47:12,360 Speaker 1: particularly easy, but you get the point. There's the incentive there, YAWLSA, 741 00:47:13,360 --> 00:47:17,560 Speaker 1: and that means that actual gamers are competing not just 742 00:47:17,680 --> 00:47:20,319 Speaker 1: against each other to get hold of these graphics cards, 743 00:47:20,360 --> 00:47:24,719 Speaker 1: but against bitcoin miners. And on the positive side, it 744 00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:28,040 Speaker 1: means that if you aren't absolutely determined to have the 745 00:47:28,200 --> 00:47:31,440 Speaker 1: state of the art hardware in your machine, you can 746 00:47:31,480 --> 00:47:35,920 Speaker 1: probably settle for a card that comes from the previous 747 00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:40,760 Speaker 1: generation or maybe two generations back, because bitcoin miners really 748 00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:44,680 Speaker 1: have no option but to embrace the fastest hardware, because 749 00:47:44,719 --> 00:47:47,280 Speaker 1: if they don't, the odds of them having a system 750 00:47:47,520 --> 00:47:51,600 Speaker 1: capable of solving a Bitcoin problem first reduced down to 751 00:47:51,800 --> 00:47:55,839 Speaker 1: near zero. One of the interesting things about bitcoin is 752 00:47:55,920 --> 00:47:58,920 Speaker 1: that the complexity of the math problem is actually dependent 753 00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:02,480 Speaker 1: upon the amount of assessing power being dedicated to solving 754 00:48:02,520 --> 00:48:06,279 Speaker 1: the problem. So if the Bitcoin system and if it 755 00:48:06,320 --> 00:48:10,480 Speaker 1: detects that computers are solving the problems too quickly, it 756 00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:15,000 Speaker 1: will automatically increase the difficulty of the math problem for 757 00:48:15,120 --> 00:48:21,600 Speaker 1: the next generation of transaction solutions. Now we'll likely see 758 00:48:21,640 --> 00:48:26,880 Speaker 1: this whole cycle continue until it becomes more expensive to 759 00:48:26,960 --> 00:48:30,360 Speaker 1: scoop up the graphics cards. Then you would make in 760 00:48:30,520 --> 00:48:35,279 Speaker 1: solving the blockchain problem. So every four years or so, 761 00:48:35,600 --> 00:48:39,480 Speaker 1: the number of bitcoins that are released per solution reduces 762 00:48:39,560 --> 00:48:43,440 Speaker 1: by half. When bitcoins first appeared, you would get fifty 763 00:48:43,560 --> 00:48:48,879 Speaker 1: of them when you solved a blockchain transaction problem. These 764 00:48:48,960 --> 00:48:52,720 Speaker 1: days it's twelve point five. There is a finite number 765 00:48:52,760 --> 00:48:56,880 Speaker 1: of bitcoins that will ever exist, So eventually we're gonna 766 00:48:56,880 --> 00:48:59,800 Speaker 1: reach a point where the reward you get for solving 767 00:48:59,840 --> 00:49:04,200 Speaker 1: a blockchain problem will be relatively low, and it won't 768 00:49:04,280 --> 00:49:09,920 Speaker 1: justify hoarding and operating a suite of GPU cards in 769 00:49:10,239 --> 00:49:12,959 Speaker 1: various computer cases that are all network together. It would 770 00:49:12,960 --> 00:49:15,680 Speaker 1: be more expensive to do that then you would make 771 00:49:16,040 --> 00:49:19,719 Speaker 1: from solving blockchain problems. Now, you could still do it 772 00:49:19,760 --> 00:49:21,840 Speaker 1: if you wanted to, but you would lose money in 773 00:49:21,840 --> 00:49:24,440 Speaker 1: the process, So it doesn't make sense. But for the 774 00:49:24,520 --> 00:49:30,480 Speaker 1: time being it is incredibly frustrating. Building on that frustration 775 00:49:30,640 --> 00:49:33,400 Speaker 1: are some recent problems with those r t X thirty 776 00:49:33,440 --> 00:49:36,440 Speaker 1: eight and thirty nine D cards. Now, I mentioned a 777 00:49:36,600 --> 00:49:39,480 Speaker 1: Founder's card earlier, and that that is a card that's 778 00:49:39,480 --> 00:49:43,040 Speaker 1: made by Nvidia itself, but in video also license out 779 00:49:43,640 --> 00:49:47,719 Speaker 1: the design the specs of the graphics cards to other manufacturers, 780 00:49:47,800 --> 00:49:50,520 Speaker 1: essentially saying, here are the components you need to put 781 00:49:50,560 --> 00:49:54,319 Speaker 1: together to make one of these cards, and then these 782 00:49:54,320 --> 00:49:58,879 Speaker 1: other manufacturers it's up to them to actually follow instructions 783 00:49:58,960 --> 00:50:01,719 Speaker 1: essentially and make their own version of the thirty eight 784 00:50:01,800 --> 00:50:05,680 Speaker 1: and the thirty cards. Some of these companies will end 785 00:50:05,760 --> 00:50:09,200 Speaker 1: up putting their own little spin on the card designs, 786 00:50:09,440 --> 00:50:12,400 Speaker 1: and unfortunately that can sometimes result in cards that have 787 00:50:12,560 --> 00:50:16,520 Speaker 1: poor reliability or other performance issues. And that's one of 788 00:50:16,520 --> 00:50:18,719 Speaker 1: the things that seems to have happened with the r 789 00:50:18,760 --> 00:50:22,280 Speaker 1: t X thirty eight and thirty nine cards. It didn't 790 00:50:22,280 --> 00:50:24,799 Speaker 1: take long for people to report that they were having 791 00:50:24,840 --> 00:50:27,960 Speaker 1: some problems while running games on systems that had these 792 00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:31,200 Speaker 1: new graphics cards in them. Sometimes they would get kicked 793 00:50:31,200 --> 00:50:33,280 Speaker 1: out of a game and back to the operating system. 794 00:50:33,400 --> 00:50:36,440 Speaker 1: Sometimes the whole system would crash. Sometimes they would get 795 00:50:36,480 --> 00:50:39,839 Speaker 1: weird artifacts and lines that would show up on screen. Now, 796 00:50:39,880 --> 00:50:43,040 Speaker 1: this would all be unacceptable for just a modest graphics card, 797 00:50:43,120 --> 00:50:45,920 Speaker 1: but it's really hard to forgive for a high end 798 00:50:45,960 --> 00:50:49,400 Speaker 1: model like say the thirty nine. And while it's early 799 00:50:49,480 --> 00:50:52,200 Speaker 1: days and it's difficult for me to point a finger 800 00:50:52,360 --> 00:50:56,560 Speaker 1: on any one specific problem or cause of this, what 801 00:50:56,680 --> 00:51:00,160 Speaker 1: appears to be the issue is that some of these 802 00:51:00,200 --> 00:51:04,200 Speaker 1: companies that are manufacturing this kind of graphics card have 803 00:51:04,320 --> 00:51:07,560 Speaker 1: taken some liberties with the design that ultimately have hurt 804 00:51:07,640 --> 00:51:11,800 Speaker 1: the stability of the card's performance. In particular, the Founders 805 00:51:11,920 --> 00:51:15,760 Speaker 1: version of the card has a series of small capacitors 806 00:51:15,760 --> 00:51:20,160 Speaker 1: that some card manufacturers have replaced with a single, cheaper capacitor, 807 00:51:20,560 --> 00:51:24,279 Speaker 1: and that in turn seems to create some electrical interference 808 00:51:24,320 --> 00:51:29,000 Speaker 1: issues that create an unstable environment. And it also makes 809 00:51:29,040 --> 00:51:33,600 Speaker 1: talking about specific graphics cards more confusing because while Nvidia 810 00:51:33,719 --> 00:51:36,799 Speaker 1: is responsible for the card design as well as the 811 00:51:36,840 --> 00:51:40,920 Speaker 1: manufacture of the Founders version of the card, other companies 812 00:51:40,920 --> 00:51:43,960 Speaker 1: are making the same type of card, but potentially with 813 00:51:44,000 --> 00:51:47,719 Speaker 1: tweaks to that design or with less expensive components. That's 814 00:51:47,719 --> 00:51:50,799 Speaker 1: why you can actually find a range of prices for 815 00:51:50,840 --> 00:51:54,680 Speaker 1: the same type of graphics card. Some companies are using 816 00:51:54,880 --> 00:51:57,960 Speaker 1: more premium components, which in turn drives the price of 817 00:51:57,960 --> 00:52:01,080 Speaker 1: the finished card up. Other cup these are using lower 818 00:52:01,160 --> 00:52:04,120 Speaker 1: cost components in an effort to bring the price down 819 00:52:04,239 --> 00:52:07,120 Speaker 1: enough so they can sell a high performing graphics card 820 00:52:07,160 --> 00:52:10,680 Speaker 1: but at a lower price than their competitors are offering. However, 821 00:52:10,719 --> 00:52:13,400 Speaker 1: the danger of that is that the lower price components 822 00:52:13,719 --> 00:52:16,160 Speaker 1: may not be as reliable as the ones that come 823 00:52:16,280 --> 00:52:20,239 Speaker 1: stock with the Founders edition. Of course, some companies might 824 00:52:20,280 --> 00:52:22,640 Speaker 1: even go the other way. They might include even more 825 00:52:22,680 --> 00:52:26,960 Speaker 1: expensive components than the Founder's version does, and then those 826 00:52:27,000 --> 00:52:30,359 Speaker 1: cards will be more expensive. But if the manufacturers can 827 00:52:30,360 --> 00:52:34,160 Speaker 1: sell consumers on the benefits of those more expensive components, 828 00:52:34,160 --> 00:52:36,480 Speaker 1: it can pay off in the long run. It becomes 829 00:52:36,520 --> 00:52:39,360 Speaker 1: a real game of deciding what is going to be 830 00:52:39,440 --> 00:52:44,040 Speaker 1: most important and most profitable. In the end, these cards 831 00:52:44,239 --> 00:52:47,319 Speaker 1: are necessary if you want to get the most out 832 00:52:47,320 --> 00:52:50,239 Speaker 1: of a gaming experience, and it also is necessary to 833 00:52:50,920 --> 00:52:55,759 Speaker 1: revitalize your machine every so often. UM. I know some 834 00:52:55,840 --> 00:53:01,239 Speaker 1: people who update their machines maybe twice a year, which 835 00:53:01,280 --> 00:53:05,520 Speaker 1: to me is incredible. I can't like. I still love 836 00:53:05,560 --> 00:53:07,640 Speaker 1: the mindset that that's way too much money to be 837 00:53:07,680 --> 00:53:11,719 Speaker 1: spending on a single device over and over and over again. UM. 838 00:53:11,800 --> 00:53:15,640 Speaker 1: But I'm also not a pro gamer and I'm not 839 00:53:15,680 --> 00:53:19,680 Speaker 1: a streamer, so there's that I would be more likely 840 00:53:19,719 --> 00:53:23,279 Speaker 1: to buy a more modest graphics card and hope that 841 00:53:23,320 --> 00:53:26,040 Speaker 1: it gets me through the next couple of years and 842 00:53:26,080 --> 00:53:30,799 Speaker 1: then upgrade from there. But then again, I'm not doing 843 00:53:30,800 --> 00:53:34,720 Speaker 1: it for a living, so I'm I'm a different consumer anyway. 844 00:53:34,760 --> 00:53:38,680 Speaker 1: But I hope that this helps illustrate what graphics processor 845 00:53:39,080 --> 00:53:42,480 Speaker 1: units do, what graphics cards are meant for, why it's 846 00:53:42,520 --> 00:53:46,279 Speaker 1: hard to find them, and you know what's going on 847 00:53:46,800 --> 00:53:50,319 Speaker 1: with the current craze with the graphics cards that are 848 00:53:50,320 --> 00:53:53,879 Speaker 1: on the market today. I am going to sign off now. 849 00:53:53,960 --> 00:53:56,759 Speaker 1: We're gonna wrap this one up, but if you guys 850 00:53:56,760 --> 00:53:59,880 Speaker 1: have suggestions for future episodes of tech Stuff, send me 851 00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:02,160 Speaker 1: a message. The best way to do it is on Twitter. 852 00:54:02,680 --> 00:54:06,000 Speaker 1: We use the handle text stuff h s W and 853 00:54:06,040 --> 00:54:14,120 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again really soon. Y. Text Stuff 854 00:54:14,200 --> 00:54:17,359 Speaker 1: is an I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from 855 00:54:17,360 --> 00:54:21,160 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 856 00:54:21,239 --> 00:54:23,240 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.