What is GPU: Be it any course in your university studies or any profession, smart devices like laptops are needed to fulfill their tasks. In that way, most of you will be familiar with using electronic devices like laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc.
Even if you are using those devices more frequently, you may fail to know some specifications and their uses. However, knowing the specifications like CPU, GPU, RAM, etc will help you to choose your laptop wisely and handle it well.
You may wonder what to know, what to do, and what not to do with GPU in your laptop and some people may need the details when they buy a new laptop with Graphics. So, this article will answer all your doubts followed by the crisp and clear details of what is GPU.
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Table of Contents
What is GPU?
GPU is abbreviated to Graphics Processing Unit which is a computer chip that accelerates computer graphics and image processing. Initially, it is used on a video card or embedded on motherboards, mobile phones, personal computers, workstations, and game consoles.
After that, the GPUs have become useful for non-graphic calculations involving embarrassing parallel problems due to their parallel structure. Also, GPUs are responsible for rendering 2D and 3D images, animations, and videos as well.
Similar to the Central Processing Unit (CPU) in a computer, GPU is also a chip component in computing devices. However, the difference is that the GPU is specifically designed to handle and accelerate graphic workloads and display graphics content on devices like PCs, Smartphones, etc.
So, an electronic device with either embedded graphics or discrete graphics can be able to smoothly run 3D graphics and video content which makes it suitable for gaming and other visual applications. Because of further technological upgrades over time, more flexible and programmable GPUs are introduced that can be used for many more applications and workloads in addition to gaming.
Accordingly, GPUs are now used for creative content making, video creation and editing, High-Performance Computing, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). From this section, you might have got an overview of what is GPU.
What does GPU do?
Now, you may know GPU as one of the most important types of computing technology for personal as well as business computing. However, the CPU performed the calculations required for graphics applications like 2D and 3D images, animation, and video in the early days.
The demands of those graphics-intensive applications caused strain on the CPU which later affected the overall performance of the computer. This is the reason why GPUs were developed to offload those tasks from the CPU for graphics applications.
Accordingly, a GPU performs graphics-related calculations very quickly and in parallel to allow for smooth rendering of any content on the screen. This introduction of GPUs makes the CPU free to handle everything else that is not related to graphics as GPUs handle the calculations.
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How does GPU Work?
In short, GPUs work by the Parallel Processing method in which multiple processors handle separate parts of a single task. To store the data that is processed by GPU, it has its RAM which is designed specifically to hold large amounts of information coming from highly intensive graphics use cases.
In the case of graphics applications, first, the CPU sends instructions to the GPU for drawing any graphics content on the screen. Then, the GPU executes the instructions in parallel and at high speeds to display the content on your device. This whole process is called the Graphics or Rendering Pipeline.
Types of GPU in Computer
GPUs in general have two types and we shall discuss them in short.
Integrated GPUs
Integrated GPUs are the ones that are built into the computer’s motherboard and they could also be integrated with the CPU. These GPUs are usually small and light as less space is required to incorporate the GPU.
One of the significance of this type of GPU is that the GPU integration reduces the system’s power consumption and reduces the device’s cost as well. On the other hand, one drawback is that an integrated GPU is often not upgradable and if the graphics need change, you might need a new device.
Nowadays gaming laptops are available that align with modern game system requirements which include GPU’s type and speed. These types of laptops smoothly run the graphics for different kinds of games thereby enhancing the player’s experience.
Discrete Graphics
Unlike the Integrate graphics, this Discrete graphics is a dedicated CPU that can be mounted on a separate circuit board. Generally, this GPU exists in the form of a removable graphics card but with powerful capabilities for resource-intensive, high-performance applications like 3D games.
In addition, discrete graphics adds more processing power to the computer which can even be upgraded as per the change of user’s need. Though it consumes more energy than an integrated GPU, it generates considerable heat.
So, it may require a dedicated cooling system to reduce the heat and maximize GPU and laptop performance.
Difference Between GPU and CPU
Generally, CPUs are responsible for interpreting most of a computer’s commands whereas GPUs perform more complex mathematical and geometric calculations to focus on graphic rendering and other graphics-intensive applications. Both CPUs and GPUs are available in various numbers of cores and transistors.
Also, CPUs are continuing to deliver performance to increase through architectural innovations, faster clock speeds, and the addition of cores. On the other hand, GPUs are dedicatedly designed to speed up the computer graphics workloads.
GPU Vs Graphics Card
You do not have to confuse GPU and Graphics Card which are sometimes used interchangeably. However, the main difference between the two is the GPU is a specific unit within a graphics card. To make it even clearer, the GPU is what performs the image and graphics processing, and the graphics card is what presents images to the display unit.
Applications of GPU
As you know GPUs are prevalently used for PC gaming, which delivers high-quality graphics rendering. Also, modern GPUs are adapted to a wider variety of tasks than they were originally designed for because they are more programmable than before. That is why GPUs are now used to speed up AI workloads and Machine Learning.
Other applications of GPU include:
- It accelerates the rendering of real-time 2D and 3D graphics applications.
- Video Editing and Video Content Creation.
- Video Game Graphics.
- Used for Machine Learning Applications like Image Recognition and Facial Detection.
- Training Deep Learning Neural works.
- Used to Mine Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies in recent days.
Conclusion
Hope you had a valuable time going through this short article on What is GPU and everything you need to know about it. This might have given you an idea about the usage of GPU in a computer that can help you to utilize it wisely.
Also, you understand the difference between CPU and GPU and get to know how GPU is different from Graphics Card as well. Thus, make use of this article to read a short note on What is GPU to have a proper understanding.
