Editing Graphics card (section)

== Discrete vs integrated graphics ==
[[File:Desktop computer bus bandwidths.svg|thumb|Classical desktop computer architecture with a distinct graphics card over [[PCI Express]]. Typical bandwidths for given memory technologies, missing are the [[memory latency]]. [[Zero-copy]] between GPU and CPU is ''not possible'', since both have their distinct physical memories. Data must be copied from one to the other to be shared.]]
[[File:Integrated graphics with distinct memory allocation.svg|thumb|Integrated graphics with ''partitioned main memory'': a part of the system memory is allocated to the GPU exclusively. Zero-copy is not possible, data has to be copied, over the system memory bus, from one partition to the other.]]
[[File:HSA-enabled integrated graphics.svg|thumb|Integrated graphics with ''unified main memory'', to be found [[Steamroller (microarchitecture)|AMD "Kaveri"]] or [[PlayStation 4]] ([[Heterogeneous System Architecture|HSA]])]]
As an alternative to the use of a graphics card, video hardware can be integrated into the [[motherboard]], [[CPU]], or a [[system-on-chip]] as integrated graphics. Motherboard-based implementations are sometimes called "on-board video". Some motherboards support using both integrated graphics and the graphics card simultaneously to feed separate displays. The main advantages of integrated graphics are: a low cost, compactness, simplicity, and low energy consumption. Integrated graphics often have less performance than a graphics card because the graphics processing unit inside integrated graphics needs to share system resources with the CPU. On the other hand, a graphics card has a separate [[random access memory]] (RAM), cooling system, and dedicated power regulators. A graphics card can offload work and reduce [[Bus contention|memory-bus-contention]] from the CPU and system RAM, therefore the overall performance for a computer could improve in addition to increased performance in graphics processing. Such improvements to performance can be seen in [[Video game|video gaming]], [[3D animation]], and [[video editing]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/glossary/integrated-vs-dedicated-graphics-cards/|title=Integrated vs Dedicated Graphics Cards &#124; Lenovo US|website=www.lenovo.com|accessdate=9 November 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Brey |first=Barry B. |url=https://userpages.umbc.edu/~squire/intel_book.pdf |title=The Intel microprocessors: 8086/8088, 80186/80188, 80286, 80386, 80486, Pentium, Pentium Pro processor, Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium 4, and Core2 with 64-bit extensions |date=2009 |publisher=Pearson Prentice Hall |isbn=978-0-13-502645-8 |edition=8th |location=Upper Saddle River, N.J}}</ref>

Both AMD and Intel have introduced CPUs and motherboard chipsets which support the integration of a GPU into the same die as the CPU. AMD advertises CPUs with integrated graphics under the trademark [[Accelerated Processing Unit]] (APU), while Intel brands similar technology under "[[Intel Graphics Technology]]".<ref name="Crijns">{{cite web|last=Crijns|first=Koen|title=Intel Iris Pro 5200 graphics review: the end of mid-range GPUs?|url=http://us.hardware.info/reviews/4776/18/intel-iris-pro-5200-graphics-review-the-end-of-mid-range-gpus-conclusion|publisher=hardware.info|access-date=30 November 2013|date=6 September 2013|archive-date=3 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203022222/http://us.hardware.info/reviews/4776/18/intel-iris-pro-5200-graphics-review-the-end-of-mid-range-gpus-conclusion|url-status=live}}</ref>