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What Is A GPU

A GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is a specialized processor that accelerates rendering and has evolved to support applications in AI, scientific computing, and cryptocurrency mining. It consists of thousands of arithmetic units, fast video memory, and various components that facilitate parallel processing for graphics and computing tasks. Major manufacturers include NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel, each offering distinct technologies and product lines.

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12 views3 pages

What Is A GPU

A GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is a specialized processor that accelerates rendering and has evolved to support applications in AI, scientific computing, and cryptocurrency mining. It consists of thousands of arithmetic units, fast video memory, and various components that facilitate parallel processing for graphics and computing tasks. Major manufacturers include NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel, each offering distinct technologies and product lines.

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70177627
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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🧠 What is a GPU?

A GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is a specialized processor designed to accelerate


rendering of images, videos, and animations. Over time, it has evolved into a high-
performance parallel processor used in many areas beyond graphics, including AI,
scientific computing, and cryptocurrency mining.

🧩 Basic Structure of a GPU


A modern GPU contains:

Component Description
Thousands of simple arithmetic units (like CUDA Cores or Stream
Cores (ALUs)
Processors) to perform parallel operations.
Fast video memory used to store textures, frames, and data for
Memory (VRAM)
computation.
Memory Controller Manages data movement between VRAM and GPU cores.
Shader Units Handle different types of shading (vertex, pixel, geometry).
Render Output Units
Final stage that outputs the image to the screen.
(ROPs)
Cache Hierarchy L1, L2 caches to speed up memory access within the GPU.

🔁 How Does It Work?


In Graphics:

1. CPU sends instructions (draw this 3D object, apply this texture).


2. GPU processes geometry (vertices, transformation).
3. Rasterization converts shapes into pixels.
4. Shaders color the pixels using lighting and textures.
5. Final image is written to frame buffer and displayed.

In Parallel Computing (e.g., AI):

1. The GPU receives a massive data set (like matrices in neural networks).
2. It splits the data into parallel threads.
3. Each core does its job in parallel.
4. The results are combined and returned to the CPU or storage.

📚 Types of GPUs
Type Use Case
Built into CPUs (e.g., Intel Iris, AMD Radeon Vega); good for casual
Integrated GPU
tasks.
Dedicated card (e.g., NVIDIA RTX, AMD Radeon); powerful for gaming,
Discrete GPU
AI, etc.
Workstation Optimized for stability, precision, and compute workloads (e.g., NVIDIA
GPU Quadro, AMD Radeon Pro).
Provided via cloud services (e.g., NVIDIA A100 on AWS/GCP); used for
Cloud GPUs
deep learning, simulations.

🧠 GPUs vs CPUs
Feature GPU CPU
Cores Thousands of simple cores Few complex cores
Parallelism Massive (SIMD) Limited (multi-threaded)
Speed Faster for parallel tasks Faster for sequential tasks
Use Cases Graphics, AI, simulation OS tasks, logic, control

🚀 Applications of GPUs
Domain Use Case
Gaming Real-time rendering, ray tracing
AI/ML Training neural networks (e.g., CNNs, transformers)
Crypto Mining Solving hash functions (e.g., Ethereum mining)
Medical Imaging MRI reconstruction, 3D modeling
Scientific Research Simulations (climate, chemistry, astrophysics)
Video Editing Real-time playback, encoding/decoding

🏗️Major GPU Manufacturers


Company Product Lines Notable Technologies
NVIDIA GeForce, Quadro, Tesla, RTX CUDA, DLSS, Tensor Cores
AMD Radeon RX, Radeon Pro, Instinct RDNA, FSR, ROCm
Intel Iris, Arc GPUs Xe architecture

🧠 Key GPU Terms


Term Meaning
CUDA Cores NVIDIA's compute cores for parallel tasks
Stream Processors AMD’s equivalent of CUDA Cores
Tensor Cores NVIDIA’s AI-specific cores
Term Meaning
Ray Tracing Cores Hardware-accelerated ray tracing
VRAM (Video RAM) Memory dedicated to GPU tasks
DLSS / FSR Upscaling technologies for better performance

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