Accelerated Computing

GPU-accelerated computing is the use of a graphics processing unit (GPU) together with a CPU to accelerate deep learning, analytics, and engineering applications. Pioneered in 2007 by NVIDIA, GPU accelerators now power energy-efficient data centers in government labs, universities, enterprises, and small-and-medium businesses around the world. They play a huge role in accelerating applications in platforms ranging from artificial intelligence to cars, drones, and robots.

HOW GPUs ACCELERATE SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS

GPU-accelerated computing offloads compute-intensive portions of the application to the GPU, while the remainder of the code still runs on the CPU. From a user's perspective, applications simply run much faster.

GPU vs CPU Performance

A simple way to understand the difference between a GPU and a CPU is to compare how they process tasks. A CPU consists of a few cores optimized for sequential serial processing while a GPU has a massively parallel architecture consisting of thousands of smaller, more efficient cores designed for handling multiple tasks simultaneously.

With over 400 HPC applications accelerated—including 9 out of top 10—all GPU users can experience dramatic throughput boost for their workloads. Find out if the applications you use are GPU-accelerated in our application catalog (PDF 1.9 MB).