A GPU, or graphics processing unit, is a specialized electronic circuit designed to accelerate computer graphics and image processing. It is a separate chip from the CPU, or central processing unit, which is the main brain of a computer. GPUs are used for both professional and personal computing, and are particularly important for high-resolution video games that require a lot of processing power. They work by using a method called parallel processing, where multiple processors handle separate parts of the same task. GPUs were developed as a way to offload graphics tasks from CPUs and to improve the rendering of 3D graphics. With the introduction of new generic stream processing units, GPUs became more generalized computing devices. Parallel GPUs are making computational inroads against the CPU, and a subfield of research, dubbed GPU computing or GPGPU for general-purpose computing on GPU, has found applications in fields as diverse as machine learning, oil exploration, scientific image processing, linear algebra, statistics, 3D reconstruction, and stock options pricing.
Some key points about GPUs include:
- They are used for rendering 2D and 3D images, animations, and video.
- They are designed to handle image rendering for a display peripheral.
- They are particularly important for high-resolution video games that require a lot of processing power.
- They are different from CPUs, which are the main brain of a computer.
- They work by using a method called parallel processing, where multiple processors handle separate parts of the same task.
- They have a wider use range than just graphics, and are used for general-purpose computing in fields such as machine learning, oil exploration, scientific image processing, linear algebra, statistics, 3D reconstruction, and stock options pricing.
