{"id":16691,"date":"2020-02-27T17:43:50","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T01:43:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/?p=16691"},"modified":"2023-01-19T14:05:11","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T22:05:11","slug":"whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s a GPU? Everything You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Before you can start playing the latest high-end video games or editing videos on your computer, you\u2019ll need to have a good GPU. But what is a GPU, and what does it do? Here\u2019s everything you need to know about GPUs, and how to find out what GPU you have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a GPU?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

GPU stands for Graphics Processing Unit. It\u2019s the most important hardware component when it comes to computer graphics. A GPU is basically an electronic circuit that your computer uses to speed up the process of creating and rendering computer graphics. Your computer also uses it to improve the quality of all the images, animations, and videos you see on your computer monitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find a GPU in desktop computers, laptops, game consoles, smartphones, tablets, and more. Typically, desktop computers and laptops use GPUs to enhance video performance, especially for graphics-intensive video games, and 3D modeling software, like AutoCAD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GPUs also make sure the images and videos on your computer monitor are displayed properly. Depending on the GPU, it can have a processing unit, memory, a cooling mechanism, and connections to a display device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two common types of GPUs. The first type is called a dedicated graphics card, while the second one is called an integrated graphics processing unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dedicated Graphics Card<\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"NVIDIA<\/span>
(Image Source: Amazon<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A dedicated graphics card is known by many other names, including a video card, a display card, or a graphics adapter. With this type of GPU, you only need to insert the card into an expansion slot on the motherboard near the central processing unit (CPU).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, you can easily replace or upgrade a dedicated graphics card, as long as your motherboard has an expansion slot, such as a PCI Express or an Accelerated Graphics Port. This kind of GPU is more powerful because it comes with \u201cdedicated\u201d RAM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to know more about what RAM is<\/a>, you can check our previous article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Integrated Graphics Processing Unit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An integrated graphics processing unit or IGPU, on the other hand, is generally built onto a motherboard itself. This type of GPU comes in the form of a computer chip that looks very similar to a CPU. Also, you can find IGPUs that act as a CPU and graphics card at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike a graphics card, an integrated graphics processing unit doesn\u2019t have dedicated RAM, so it typically makes use of a portion of your computer\u2019s RAM to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Does a GPU Do?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The best way to understand what a GPU does is to imagine your computer as a brain. A GPU connects to your computer\u2019s motherboard, and it generates output images and videos that are sent to your computer monitor, the same way an eye connects to the brain and feeds visual cues from the outside world.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Computer<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n

What is the Difference Between a GPU and a CPU?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A CPU is responsible for processing visual information from your GPU, just like how the brain is responsible for translating the images the eye sees into something meaningful. Since the CPU controls your entire computer, it is the most important part of the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to know more about what a CPU is<\/a>, check out our previous article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Find Out What GPU You Have on a Windows 10 PC<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To find out what GPU you have on a Windows 10 PC, click on the magnifying glass icon in the bottom-left corner of your screen and type Device Manager<\/em> into the search bar. Then click the arrow next to Display adapters<\/em> to see the name of your GPU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Open the Windows Search Bar.<\/strong> This is the button with a magnifying glass icon in the bottom-left corner of your screen.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Then type Device Manager.<\/strong> Once you\u2019re done typing, just press Enter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Click the drop-down arrow next to Display adapters<\/em>.<\/strong> Once you click the drop-down arrow to the left of Display adapters, the name of your graphics card will appear under the \u201cDisplay adapters\u201d heading.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n
    \n
    \"How<\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    How to Find Out What GPU You Have on a Mac<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    To find out what GPU you have on a Mac, click the Apple icon in the top-left corner of your screen and click About This Mac<\/em>. Then you will see your GPU\u2019s name next to Graphics<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen<\/strong>. After clicking it, a drop-down menu will appear.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Then click About This Mac<\/em>.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. You will see your Graphics card model next to Graphics<\/em>. <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n
      \n
      \"How<\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

      If you want to know more information about your Mac\u2019s GPU, click the System Report button at the bottom of the window. Then select Hardware <\/em>> Graphics\/Displays<\/em> from the right sidebar. You will see more details about your graphics card on the right side of the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      If your graphic card is not sufficient to play your favorite games, check out our article on the best gaming laptops<\/a> here.<\/p>\n\n\n

      \"Smart<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Before you can start playing the latest high-end video games or editing videos on your computer, you\u2019ll need to have a good GPU. But what is a GPU, and what does it do? Here\u2019s everything you need to know about GPUs, and how to find out what GPU you have. What is a GPU? GPU stands for Graphics Processing Unit. It\u2019s the most important hardware component when it comes to computer graphics. A GPU is basically an electronic circuit that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17079,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17594,17596],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-computers","category-gaming"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat\u2019s a GPU? Everything You Need to Know - The Plug - HelloTech<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you want to the play the latest video games, you'll need to know what GPU you have. But what's a GPU? What does it stand for? And what does it do?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What\u2019s a GPU? Everything You Need to Know - The Plug - HelloTech\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Before you can start playing the latest high-end video games or editing videos on your computer, you\u2019ll need to have a good GPU. But what is a GPU, and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Plug - HelloTech\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hellotech\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-28T01:43:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-19T22:05:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/what-is-a-gpu.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@HelloTech\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@HelloTech\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dec00225dd888a509740ace5e4d9de6c\"},\"headline\":\"What\u2019s a GPU? Everything You Need to Know\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-28T01:43:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-19T22:05:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have\"},\"wordCount\":834,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Computers\",\"Gaming\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have\",\"name\":\"What\u2019s a GPU? Everything You Need to Know - The Plug - HelloTech\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-28T01:43:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-19T22:05:11+00:00\",\"description\":\"If you want to the play the latest video games, you'll need to know what GPU you have. But what's a GPU? What does it stand for? And what does it do?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What\u2019s a GPU? Everything You Need to Know\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Plug - HelloTech\",\"description\":\"Turn to The Plug for informative tech news that you can use. \",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"HelloTech\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/HT-logo-revised-final.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/HT-logo-revised-final.png\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":174,\"caption\":\"HelloTech\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hellotech\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HelloTech\",\"http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/hello_tech\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCIR-fbAKRfVuAbciDr2z4nQ\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dec00225dd888a509740ace5e4d9de6c\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cbb537d18df244ad7d57a3639d94ede5cd90bf1fb742392af5731beaf11ffeb1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cbb537d18df244ad7d57a3639d94ede5cd90bf1fb742392af5731beaf11ffeb1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What\u2019s a GPU? Everything You Need to Know - The Plug - HelloTech","description":"If you want to the play the latest video games, you'll need to know what GPU you have. But what's a GPU? What does it stand for? And what does it do?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What\u2019s a GPU? Everything You Need to Know - The Plug - HelloTech","og_description":"Before you can start playing the latest high-end video games or editing videos on your computer, you\u2019ll need to have a good GPU. But what is a GPU, and","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have","og_site_name":"The Plug - HelloTech","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hellotech","article_published_time":"2020-02-28T01:43:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-01-19T22:05:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/what-is-a-gpu.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@HelloTech","twitter_site":"@HelloTech","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dec00225dd888a509740ace5e4d9de6c"},"headline":"What\u2019s a GPU? Everything You Need to Know","datePublished":"2020-02-28T01:43:50+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-19T22:05:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have"},"wordCount":834,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Computers","Gaming"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have","url":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have","name":"What\u2019s a GPU? Everything You Need to Know - The Plug - HelloTech","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-02-28T01:43:50+00:00","dateModified":"2023-01-19T22:05:11+00:00","description":"If you want to the play the latest video games, you'll need to know what GPU you have. But what's a GPU? What does it stand for? And what does it do?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/whats-a-gpu-what-gpu-do-you-have#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What\u2019s a GPU? Everything You Need to Know"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/","name":"The Plug - HelloTech","description":"Turn to The Plug for informative tech news that you can use. ","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"HelloTech","url":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/HT-logo-revised-final.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/HT-logo-revised-final.png","width":1000,"height":174,"caption":"HelloTech"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hellotech","https:\/\/twitter.com\/HelloTech","http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/hello_tech","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCIR-fbAKRfVuAbciDr2z4nQ"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/dec00225dd888a509740ace5e4d9de6c","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cbb537d18df244ad7d57a3639d94ede5cd90bf1fb742392af5731beaf11ffeb1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cbb537d18df244ad7d57a3639d94ede5cd90bf1fb742392af5731beaf11ffeb1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}