[MINI] GPU CPU

Processor Basics

Understanding the basics of CPUs and GPUs is crucial in grasping their roles in computing. Kyle Polich explains that while CPUs, or Central Processing Units, handle a wide range of tasks, GPUs, or Graphical Processing Units, are specialized for graphics. This specialization allows GPUs to perform complex arithmetic operations, like those needed for 3D games, much faster than CPUs 1.

The reason they invented the graphics processing unit is because the CPU was too slow to do the graphics.

--- Kyle Polich

He notes that GPUs have more cores than CPUs, enabling them to handle numerous calculations simultaneously, which is why they are now used beyond graphics, in fields like scientific computing and machine learning 2.

   

Historical Context

The historical development of GPUs reveals their initial purpose and evolving role in technology. Originally, GPUs were created to overcome the limitations of CPUs in rendering graphics, as CPUs were too slow for the task 2. Over time, the realization that GPUs could be repurposed for non-graphic tasks, such as deep learning, transformed their utility.

Some very clever people realized, hey, wait a minute, that thing that has all those cores... can be jerry rigged to do calculations for scientific computing and for machine learning.

--- Kyle Polich

Kyle highlights how GPUs are now integral to deep learning, where their ability to perform repetitive arithmetic operations quickly is invaluable 3.