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What's the Difference Between a CPU and a GPU?

CPUs and GPUs are core components for a wide variety of computer systems. But what’s the difference between them? Let’s take a look!

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The Brains of the Operation

The CPU, central processing unit, is the most important component of a computer. It executes many instructions coming from your operating system and programs. For certain tasks, the CPU will offload processing to other devices you may have, such as your GPU.

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Computational Muscle

A GPU, graphics processing unit, is a type of processor that is traditionally used for rendering graphics on a screen, while that primary function remains, they are also suited for other specialized tasks such as high-performance computing and deep learning.

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Key Differences

A CPU, being the main functional component of a modern computer, needs to be able to quickly handle a wide variety of general tasks. Traditionally, these tasks are handled one at a time by a CPU core, however as more cores/threads have been added, CPUs have become more equipped to handle multiple tasks at once. With how vital a CPU is to a functioning computer, their placement on a typical desktop motherboard puts the CPU as close as possible to your system's RAM.

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GPUs may possess hundreds or thousands of specialized cores, allowing for instructions to be executed in real-time. This is great for rendering lifelike 3D graphics, but also useful for chewing through massive amounts of data very quickly. While a larger number of CPUs have their own integrated GPUs, desktop graphics cards featuring much more capable GPUs are often installed via an expansion slot on a desktop motherboard in close proximity to the CPU socket.

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A Vital Combo

Modern desktop systems both require a CPU and a GPU to function. In fact, many desktop CPUs feature an integrated GPU that shares resources such as RAM with the CPU and handles the essential needs for a modern desktop when it comes to graphics and video processing.

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But for larger workloads such as AAA gaming at 4K or running AI tools/features locally on your machine, a dedicated graphics card which provides its own VRAM for its GPU will be needed.

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