The graphics accelerator is the processing unit in your PC, mobile phone or games system that offloads 3D graphics from the microprocessor.

In the 1970s the early home computers such as the Atari 8-bit used the ANTIC and CTIA chips to provide basic text and graphic modes.

In the 1980s IBM had come up with the professional graphics controller which was one of the first 3D graphics accelerators and was used in the IBM PC, although due to its high price it would be a decade before 3D graphics accelerators would find themselves in mainstream use.

The Commodore Amiga was unique as the first mass produced home computer that incorporated IBMs 8514 2D graphics accelerator and the blitter video hardware.

In the 1990s with the introduction of Windows 2D and 3D graphic accelerators became a neccesaty and manufacturers like S3 graphics started to mass produce 2D and 3D graphic accelerators, S3 Graphics 86C911 single chip 2D accelerator spawned a host of imitators by 1995 all major graphics chip manufacturers produced 2D graphic accelerators.

In the noughties (2000s) came the advent of OpenGL API and DirectX, as processing power increased so did the capabilities of graphic accelerators now each pixel could be processed by a small program that could include image textures and shading, real 3D had arrived.