Downloadable Graphic Cards?

[JuniorD]

I've heard of these things and that they are free. Anyone know of any of these that you would highly recommend?

[Livewire]

I'm afraid I must ask for links to what you're asking about.

Cause the closest I can find on google is this:

Download Intel Express 3D Graphics Card


Problem is the part immediately -after- that:

Driver 3.7 Driver for 9X ...



It's just the driver for the card, not the card itself.




I will point out though updating video card drivers can frequently make the existing card perform better, but you're likely not going to be able to turn your Geforce 6 series into a 9 series by downloading the 9 series drivers

[marshian]

Omg, so that's why they're complaining about the internet infanstructures! Ö
You can download hardware these days! No wonder the lines are jammed...

(PS: you can't download a graphics card, it's hardware...)

[Spartan Erik]

Download hardware from the internet? Now I've heard everything..

Surely you are talking about something else..

You need to pay for hardware and install it yourself physically onto your motherboard

[LHVWB]

Downloadable and Free graphics cards would be awesome but I don't think that anyone has made them yet, maybe when some random scientist creates a matter-energy converter or teleporter. ;)

You're probably thinking about drivers.

[JuniorD]

I know of this. But apparently theres graphic enhancers out there that you need to download and not install manually.

[Livewire]

I know of this. But apparently theres graphic enhancers out there that you need to download and not install manually.

Graphic enhancers don't count as graphic cards.

I'm guessing from what you're discussing, you're thinking along the lines of something like Riva Tuner, which lets you increase the core speed, the shader speed (if applicable, seem my card won't let me adjust them independently), and the memory speed of the video card in the system.


This (usually) voids your warranty because it (usually) counts as modifying the card to perform outside of its manufacturer specified settings. It is exceptionally easy to set your card to specifications that will cause it to destroy itself, usually due to over-heat.



That being said, those do exist. I'm using one right now to halve the power of my video card which is helping to reduce my system's temperature (not by much, but by enough to be worth it). I turn it back to normal for gaming but otherwise leaving it at half power helps somewhat.


I also need to stress though - you aren't going to be able to turn a geforce 6 series card into something with the power of a 9 series card. The hardware itself limits what you can do.

Think of it like an engine in a car - you can tune it up all you want, but it does have a maximum output no matter how much tuning you do, and it WILL at some point need to be replaced if you want to crank the output up higher




But yeah, now that we're all on the same page (graphics enhancers/tweakers, NOT the card itself), we might be able to discuss it a bit better

Gotta admit I'm no expert on this either. I just know Overclocking can kill a cpu if you don't do it right, and thats no different for a gpu.

[brutetal]

The only feasible way I see is by using one or more CPU cores in a Dual or Quad core CPU to act as a gpu... but you will already need an on-board video.

[Spartan Erik]

I know of this. But apparently theres graphic enhancers out there that you need to download and not install manually.

Are you talking about software that allows you to overclock graphics cards?

You can squeeze out more performance out of a card, but you will be risking your GPU depending on how much of an extra load you put on it.

If you want to play games like Crysis, COD4, etc. and you don't have an 8-series card, I suggest purchasing a new graphics card. Overclock all you want, you won't be able to match performance of new cards

[shadoh]

You can OC cards manually and with software... that has to be what you read :-)