What is GPU Compute?

A Graphics Processing Unit or 'GPU', is a specialised electronic circuit designed to rapidly process and render images, video and 3D animations by performing thousands of mathematical calculations at the same time, which is setup alongside, or used instead of a traditional CPU.

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What is GPU Compute?

How a GPU Works

Unlike a Central Processing Unit or 'CPU', which handles complex tasks one after another using a a small number of powerful cores, a GPU uses thousands of smaller cores, known as 'Parallel Processing', to process many items of data simultaneously.

By taking over heavy graphical and mathematical calculations, the GPU frees up the main computer processor or CPU, to run other system tasks smoothly.

Types of GPU’s

Integrated GPU: Built directly into the same chip or motherboard as the CPU, it uses shared system memory, is energy-efficient and works well for everyday tasks, web browsing, and light gaming.
Discrete or Dedicated GPU: A separate, powerful add-in card, often called a graphics card, that plugs into the motherboard. It has its own dedicated memory or 'VRAM', and cooling system, making it ideal for high-end gaming, 4K video editing and heavy rendering.

Common Uses for GPU Compute

Gaming: Renders fast moving and intense 3D environments, textures and lighting effects in real time.
Artificial Intelligence: This type of setup is able to power deep learning, model training and machine learning workloads due to its large parallel computing power.
Creative Production: Speeds up video rendering, special effects and 3D modelling software.

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In Summary

GPU compute is the term used to describe the use of a Graphics Processing Unit or 'GPU', to handle heavy math and data tasks instead of, or alongside, the 'CPU', or primary processor.