1. CPU v.s. GPU
The GPU handles the visual elements. Such as shaders, effects, shadows, light, textures, etc. The graphics card determines how many polygons that can be displayed at a time. It also significantly impact how high of a resolution any given object can have.
The GPU is the filter over the game. It handles the glowing effects, ability effects, light sources, etc.
The CPU handles the physical and logical elements. Such as hitboxes, logic(If-this-then-that-happens), movement, collision. It generates the in-game particles, in other words, it creates the world beneath the filter that the GPU creates.
As an example. If you are playing a racing game and you collide with another car, then the CPU is the processor that knows what the logical outcome of this collision would be.
It is essential to understand that this is just in broad terms and there is more depth to it than this. As an example, GPU’s are critical for bitcoin mining and is more important than the CPU, despite having nothing to do with visuals.
2. What is a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)/Graphics Card
As stated earlier, the graphics processing unit determines the artistic side of the game and function as a filter over the base game.
When the game has generated bare polygons to make out objects, it is the graphics card that adds all of the ”graphics” essentially. This includes shaders, shadows, light, reflections, effects, and so on.
So the better the graphics card, the more polygons and higher resolution can be displayed at a time. So without the graphics card, your abilities in World of Warcraft would be simple boxes flowing through the air, same with your grenades and bullets in Counter-Strike, even your character.
3. Is GPU & Graphics Card the Same?
Yes and no, one does not function without the other. The graphics card is a chip on the Graphics processing unit, and they both enable each other to work. Since they are bought as 1 unit it is very common to refer to the GPU is the ‘Graphics Card.’ While this is not technically correct regarding terminology, it is easy to see why as you will never see a modern GPU without a graphics card.
4. What is a CPU (Central Processing Unit)
While the GPU makes sure that everything looks good and polished, the CPU makes sure that the GPU has something to polish.
The Central Processing Unit handles the logical and organizational parts of the game. This includes objects, hitboxes, base particles. So in other words, the CPU is the part that understands how a solid object react to physical interference. Such as the wind blowing on a tree, a character being shot, etc.
As an example. Underneath the graphical aspects of each champion in League of Legends is the hitbox or the base polygons. This is the part you are aiming for and is what determines if an ability hits the target or not. This is why a spell in League of Legends can sometimes hit while it actually looks like it didn’t connect. The champion you see is just a filter and graphics, but the hitbox is the actual mechanics of the game beneath all that.
5. What is Bottlenecking?
Example: Let us say you buy a brand new 2000 dollar graphics card for your desktop. That would mean your graphics would improve right? Well, not necessarily. It depends on the rest of your specifications and hardware.
So buying a high-end graphics card and putting it together with a standard CPU or memory card will cause a bottleneck reaction. Meaning your brand new expensive GPU may only perform at a small percentage of it’s potential.
That is why you often hear people ask why they have low frame rates even though they just got a new graphics processing unit. Getting a new graphics card enhances your PC’s ability to create graphical effects better and faster, however, if you have a low-end CPU then the physics of the game won’t be able to keep up, and vice versa. Having a powerful CPU with a mediocre GPU will create the same problems.
6. CPU & GPU Overlapping
In the hopes of eliminating bottleneck issues, a lot of manufacturers is starting to implement CPU features into their GPU. This does not mean that you will get a good performance from a GPU alone but merely that the gap between GPU and CPU can be larger without causing issues.
Example: Some modern Graphics cards are also capable of handling physics to a certain extent. Such as the Nvidia PhysX, which can process some of the physical aspects of a game but that does not mean it can handle it alone entirely.
These modern GPU’s merely contribute to the CPU process and alleviate some of the bottleneck issues by carrying some of the CPU’s weight.
7. What is an APU (Accelerated Processing Unit)
Accelerated Processing Unit is the combination of the CPU and GPU in a single unit. This has some advantages and disadvantages.
7.1 Advantages of APU
The fusion of CPU and GPU into one unit has some significant benefits in certain situations. First off, it eliminates CPU bottlenecking completely. While you can still have bottleneck issues because of your other components, this eliminates the most common and problematic type.
Secondly, it allows them to share ram which has many benefits concerning performance. Simply put, it makes it so that the single CPU and GPU units inside the APU perform better as they can borrow from each other.
Accelerated Processing Unit is handy for people who do not plan on upgrading the individual components of their computer. This is why both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 use APU instead of individual units.
Lastly, it is much more convenient, spacing wise. It takes up a lot less space which is why it is so prevalent in laptops and mini desktops.
7.2 Disadvantages of APU
APU’s are harder to swap out and if you like to keep your PC up to date with new hardware from time to time then separate CPU’s, and GPU’s are still the superior option.
APU is also believed to have worse longevity and durability, which might be why laptops and consoles tend to lose their performance capabilities faster than regular desktops.
Many of the very best GPU’s and CPU’s sold separately, and you won’t be able to find genuinely high-end performance with an APU, yet.
That being said, I do believe that APU will slowly take over the market within the next decade or so. As the more we learn about them, the more advantages they seem to have.
8. Conclusion
You could say the CPU is the brain and the GPU is the eyes. Your brain understands the world, how it functions, physics, etc. While your eye is creating the images, you see in the world.
What is important is that you make sure that your hardware is relatively of the same quality as to avoid bottlenecking.
