1. A graphics processing apparatus, comprising: a graphics pipeline including a first pipeline stage; and a second pipeline stage downstream of the first pipeline stage, wherein the first pipeline stage includes a clipping unit configured to produce and issue n i initial outputs based on execution of a set of clipping operations, wherein n i represents the number of the initial outputs that are issued by the first pipeline stage and delivered to the second pipeline stage prior context switching, and the initial outputs partially define a clipped graphics primitive; and a control unit connected to the clipping unit, the control unit configured to preserve an initial execution state of the clipping unit in response to an initial command for context switching, wherein the first pipeline stage further includes a counter to track n i , and wherein the initial execution state is preserved based on n i .