How is GPU Different from CPU?

How is GPU Different from CPU?

The CPU (central processing unit) has often been called the brains of the PC. But increasingly, that brain is being enhances by another part of A PC. The GPU (graphics processing unit), which is its soul.

The GPU is in a class by itself. It goes far beyond basic graphics controller functions, and is a programmable and powerful computing device in its own right.

The CPU is composed of only a few cores with lots of cache memory that can handle a few software threads at a time. What differentiates the GPU from CPU, a GPU is composed of hundreds of cores that can handle thousands of threads simultaneously. The ability of a GPU with 100+ cores to process thousands of threads can accelerate some software by 100x over a CPU alone.

How is GPU Different from CPU?

The term “CPU” stands for “Central Processing Unit” or literally the processor. It is the logic circuitry that takes action to and processes the basic instructions that operate a computer. The processor’s four main functions include fetch, decode, execute, and writeback. Its basic elements include the ALU or the Arithmetic Logic Unit, the FPU or the Floating Point Unit, registers, and L1 and L2 cache memory.

The ALU element is the one tasked at performing logic and arithmetic operations on the operands in instructions. The FPU element is a specialized co-processor tasked at manipulating numbers quicker than the basic microprocessor circuitry can. The FPU is also known as math co-processor or numeric co-processor. The registers or register element hold instructions and other data.

They are the one tasked at supplying operands to the ALU and save the results of the operations. The L1 and L2 cache memory element is an inclusion in the central processing unit and their addition saves time instead of fetching the data from RAM. The term “GPU” stands for “Graphics Processing Unit.” It is a computer chip that executes fast mathematical calculations basically for rendering images.

Back in the early days, it is also the CPU that performs these calculations. As time pass by, more graphics-intensive applications were developed like the Autodesk AutoCAD, for example. Because of their demands, their use put strain on the CPU which then decreases the performance of the machine. That’s when GPUs came. Their main purpose is to offload those tasks from the CPU thus freeing up their processing power.

If the CPU usage is low, the computer’s performance is high. GPUs can be found on dedicated video cards or built-in to the motherboard.