PC-based computing system employing multiple graphics processing units (GPUS) interfaced with the central processing unit (CPU) using a PC bus and a hardware hub, and parallelized according to the object division mode of parallel operation

摘要

A PC-based computing system capable of displaying images of 3-D objects during an interactive process between said computing system and a user thereof. The PC-based computing system includes a graphics processing subsystem having a plurality of GPUs arranged in a parallel architecture and operating according to an object division mode of parallel operation so that each GPU supports a graphics pipeline for processing data in a parallel manner according to the object division mode. A hardware hub, interfaces with a CPU interface module and the GPUs, and has a hub router for (i) distributing the stream of geometrical data and graphic commands among the GPUs, and (ii) transferring pixel data output from one or more of GPUs during the composition of frames of pixel data corresponding to final images for display on the display surface. A CPU interface module provides an interface between one or more software hub drivers and the hardware hub.