GPU

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobile phones, personal computers, workstations, and game consoles. Modern GPUs are very efficient at manipulating computer graphics and image processing. Their highly parallel structure makes them more effective than general-purpose central processing units (CPUs) for algorithms where processing of large blocks of data is done in parallel.

History

The term GPU was popularized by Nvidia in 1999, who marketed the GeForce 256 as "the world's first GPU". It was presented as a single chip processor with integrated transform, lighting, triangle setup/clipping, and rendering engines that are capable of processing a minimum of 10 million polygons per second. Prior to this, the graphics processing was done by dedicated chips and the CPU.

Architecture

The architecture of a GPU, whether integrated into the motherboard or as a separate graphics card, typically includes a number of cores capable of multi-threading and sophisticated shading. Modern GPUs use most of their transistors to do calculations related to 3D computer graphics. They may include features such as Ray Tracing and Tensor cores, which are specialized for tasks in machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Applications

Originally intended for computer graphics and image processing, the applications of GPUs have expanded over the years. They are now also used for GPU acceleration in areas such as neural networks, scientific computing, and big data analysis. This is due to their ability to process many pieces of data simultaneously, making them suitable for complex computation tasks that can be parallelized.

GPU in Gaming

In video gaming, GPUs are used to render graphics, enhancing the visual quality and performance of games. High-performance GPUs are critical for running high-resolution and high frame-rate video games.

Future Developments

The future of GPU technology is likely to see continued growth in parallel performance and efficiency, with advancements in areas such as real-time ray tracing and AI-driven graphics enhancements. As technology evolves, the distinction between graphics processing units and more general-purpose processors might continue to blur, as seen with the integration of GPU-like capabilities into CPUs.

See Also

• Central Processing Unit
• Video Game Console
• Ray Tracing
• Neural Networks