1. A texture unit comprising: an instruction input component for receiving texture instructions and texture coordinates; a level of detail component for determining a level of detail for performing said instructions at said texture coordinates, wherein said level of detail component weighs residency of texture information in determining said level of detail; a texture determination component for calculating an address of a texture corresponding to said level of detail determined by said level of detail component and fetching said texture; and a texture filter component for filtering said texture and forwarding a result.