CPU vs GPU
Similiarity: Both are silicon-based microprocessors.
Difference: The way they process tasks.
CPU: Central processing unit, can process a wider range and variety of tasks, but does so in a slower way. CPU's are optimized for sequential, serial processing.
GPU: Graphics process unit, is a very fast number cruncher due to its massively parallel architecture, so it can dramatically out-perform a CPU by handling multiple functions at the same time.
Uses:
Both CPU (since early 1970s) and GPU (since early 2000s / late 1990s) work complimentarily, and because of the added processing power, memory bandwidth and efficiency of GPUs, computing can now:
- Game in immersive 3D (AR / VR)
- Model, forecast and visualise situations to even greater levels of accuracy
- Process volumes of data for machine learning
- Perform complex calculations, like those involved in crypto mining
- 3D games use large amounts of floating point calculations, as 3D graphics are rendered polygons made up of vertices, and what you see in your viewport is calculated on-the-fly
- GPUs far better at mathematics than CPUs, and thus more suited to gaming