noun

GPU

jee-pee-YOO

GPU (noun) means a chip designed to perform very large numbers of simple calculations at the same time, originally to draw images on a screen and now also used for tasks such as video editing, scientific computing and training machine-learning models. Example: “Rendering the scene took twenty minutes on the CPU and under a minute on the GPU.”

noun

A chip designed to perform very large numbers of simple calculations at the same time, originally to draw images on a screen and now also used for tasks such as video editing, scientific computing and training machine-learning models.

"Rendering the scene took twenty minutes on the CPU and under a minute on the GPU."

"The model was trained across eight GPUs."

The expansion card that carries such a chip, together with its own memory and cooling, and slots into a desktop computer.

"He couldn't close the case because the new GPU was too long."

How to Use GPU

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA chip that does thousands of simple sums at once, used for graphics and AI.

When to use it

Standard technical vocabulary; also common among gamers, where graphics card is used interchangeably for the physical card.

Memory tip

Say each letter separately. In shopping contexts GPU usually means the whole card, not just the chip.

Trace the full origin ↓

Easily confused with

CPU → VRAM graphics card

Common pairings

dedicated GPU integrated GPU GPU memory GPU acceleration GPU cluster

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

Rendering the scene took twenty minutes on the CPU and under a minute on the _____.

Etymology

An initialism of graphics processing unit.

Origin: English

Synonyms

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graphics processing unit graphics chip graphics processor graphics card video card display adapter

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a GPU and a CPU?

A CPU has a few powerful cores that handle varied, unpredictable work one step after another, which suits operating systems and general software. A GPU has thousands of far simpler cores that all run the same operation across many pieces of data at once. Neither is an upgraded version of the other.

What is the difference between integrated and discrete graphics?

Integrated graphics is a GPU built into the same package as the CPU and sharing the computer's main memory. A discrete GPU is a separate chip on its own card with its own dedicated memory, so it generally handles heavier graphics work.

Why are GPUs used for artificial intelligence?

Training and running neural networks mostly comes down to multiplying very large grids of numbers, which is exactly the kind of repetitive parallel arithmetic a GPU is built for. That is why the same hardware sold for games became central to machine learning.