When you buy a new computer processor, mainboard and memory are three seperate things but depending on eachother. It is really the same thing with a graphic card, which consists out of graphic processor, a PCB and memory. Now it seems like that the graphic processor (GPU) might become seperate from the graphic card, just as the CPU is today. Anandtech has namely published some very interesting information about ATi and nVidia’s coming graphic circuits and there they mention graphic card sockets as something we may very well see in the future. nVidia is apparently working on a GPU-socket which will be seated on the mainboard, in other words a mainboard where both processor and GPU are installed in sockets.
ATi is in turn working on a similar solution but there we’re talking about a PCIe-card with a graphic circuit-socket. In othe words a graphic card with replaceable GPU. It also discuss ATi’s plans for supporting physics acceleration with future graphic cards.
The information about “flip chip GPUs” is without a doubt really interesting as the graphic cards are getting more and more important for the gaimng experience.
