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What is the difference between software rendering vs. gpu rendering

Anonymous
2011-03-05T04:13:08+00:00

original thread: software rendering vs. gpu rendering

What is the difference between software rendering and GPU rendering under "accelerated graphics" in Internet properties?

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-03-05T04:38:30+00:00

    "Software rendering" depends on the CPU to do generate the screen elements. The problem is that the CPU is busy doing other "stuff" at the same time, which could slow down screen painting.

    "GPU rendering" hands off much of the screen drawing to the Graphics card. In theory this can be better/faster if you have a high power graphics card for a few reasons:

    • the GPU isn't as busy as the CPU which is doing "everything" else
    • GPU is optimized for graphics, CPU isn't (CPU has to do more calculations)
    • many GPU's are designed to process graphics commands in parallel, CPU single threads them
    • GPU has dedicated memory it does not have to share with other CPU based apps

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-12-16T13:33:27+00:00

    Thank You.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-09-09T16:07:34+00:00

    The only way to be sure is to try it yourself - log out and log in to a 'software rendering' desktop. With a CPU monitor on my i3, I see CPU maybe drop to 10% - push up to 40% when I'm typing and temperature is around 50-60 C (normally, CPU is 5% or less, temperature 40, my room is around 28).

    So unless your graphics card is entirely useless, I'd say anything is better than tying up CPU with painting the desktop!

    It's like the '80's again, where most power goes into keeping the desktop running.

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-10-02T10:52:26+00:00

    What if u have a big CPU and A week Video Card ? would it be a Bottle neck? or could turning this option on help unlock the CPU's Power

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-03-05T04:34:45+00:00
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