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CPU vs GPU | Know Their Differences

CPU vs GPU - Know Their Differences

In general, CPUs place an emphasis on low latency whereas GPUs place an emphasis on high performance. GPUs emphasize high throughput.

Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) are special-purpose processors optimized for calculations common (and repetitive) in Computer Graphics, particularly SIMD calculations.

Central Processing Units (CPUs) are general-purpose processors. It is capable of performing any computation, but may not do it optimally. Even though a CPU can perform graphics processing, it will likely not perform as quickly as a GPU with proper programming.

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How CPU and GPU Work Together

CPUs (central processing units) and GPUs (graphics processing units) work together to increase data throughput and concurrent calculations within an application. Since the early 2010s, GPUs have also been used to accelerate calculations involving massive amounts of data, besides creating images for computer graphics and video game consoles.

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Difference Between CPU and GPU

GPU architecture differs primarily from CPU architecture in that a CPU can perform a wide range of tasks quickly (measured by CPU clock speed), but is limited in how many tasks can be executed at the same time. GPUs can render high-resolution images and videos simultaneously.

GPUs are also commonly used for non-graphical tasks such as machine learning and scientific computation, since they can perform parallel operations on multiple sets of data. With thousands of processors running simultaneously, GPUs enable massive parallelism, where each core is dedicated to maximizing efficiency

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Examples of CPU to GPU Computing

  1. CPU and GPU rendering video — GPUs decode videos from one graphics format to another more quickly than CPUs.
  2. Accelerating data — GPUs have advanced calculations that increase the amount of data a CPU can process in a given period of time. Specialized programs that require complex mathematical calculations, such as deep learning or machine learning, can be offloaded to the GPU. As a result, the CPU has more time and resources available to complete other tasks.
  3. Cryptocurrency mining — The process of obtaining virtual currencies like Bitcoin involves using a computer as a relay. GPUs on graphics cards are much faster at generating currency than CPUs.
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Adolfo

Hello! I am Adolfo Ortiz-Flores. I have been gaming since the Nintendo 64 days and have a serious interest in helping people find great information, products and services related to games, consoles and other computer parts. I hope you can find this information very helpful!!

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