Described is a method and apparatus to accelerate rendering of 3D graphics images. When rendering, the transformation matrix (or equivalent) used for projecting primitives is modified so that a resulting image is smaller and/or warped compared to a regular unmodified rendering. The effect of such transformation is fewer pixels being rendered and thus a better performance. To compute the final image, the warped image is rectified by an inverse transformation. Depending on the warping transformation used, the resulting (rectified) image will be blurred in a controlled way, either simulating a directional motion blur, location-dependent sharpness/blurriness or other blurring effects. By intelligently selecting the warping transformation in correspondence with the rendered scene, overall performance is increased without losing the perceived fidelity of the final image. For example, if the directional motion blur matches the movement of the camera, the resulting effect is an improved rendering quality, at a better performance.