GPUs and Their Uses — Interactive Activity

Explore why GPUs excel at graphics and other workloads. Use the simulations and questions below, then reveal the model answers when you are ready.

Exports a summary of your selections and explanations.

1. Game Lighting — Why the GPU?

Pixels updated: 0
CPU sim updates pixels one-by-one. GPU sim updates all pixels at once.
Question: Why is a GPU better suited to updating the lighting when the torches switch on?

2. Wireframe to Render — Why the GPU?

Rendering means huge numbers of independent RGB and XYZ calculations across pixels and vertices.
Question: Which statements explain why a GPU is better suited to rendering the full-colour image than a CPU?

3. Beyond Graphics — Where Else Are GPUs Used?

Task A: Select the fields that are good candidates for GPU acceleration.
Task B: What do these fields have in common that makes them suited to GPUs?