The modern technology of smartphones and laptops and AI-based PCs and autonomous vehicles all rely on different types of processors. While CPU, GPU, and NPU are more and more used and not only more common terms, it is true that most users don’t know what each one is doing.
Each processor is designed for a specific type of workload and together they make today's devices faster, smarter, and more energy-efficient.
CPU: The General-Purpose Processor
Central Processing Unit (CPU) is often referred to as the “brain” of a computer. It does everything from running operating systems, launching applications (to see what’s out there), accessing the Internet, organizing files, and calculating things.
CPUs are designed to process information quickly and efficiently so they are ideally suited for decisions and sequential processing. Writing documents, sending emails, and splitting tasks between apps, the CPU is always at work.
Many CPUs have several cores to perform many functions simultaneously and the system is able to perform many tasks at once.
GPU: Graphics and Parallel Processing.GPU was originally designed to create the graphics, videos and 3D graphics. GPUs do much more now than gaming.GPUs are far more powerful than CPUs due to their hundreds or even thousands of smaller cores and the fact that they can perform many calculations at the same time.
This makes them good at parallel processing.
GPUs are widely used for: Besides powering high-end games
- Video editing
- 3D rendering
- Scientific simulations
- Cryptocurrency mining
- Artificial Intelligence model training
- Machine learning workloads
The companies developing AI systems depend on powerful GPUs because they significantly reduce the time needed to train big AI models.
NPU: The AI Specialist
The Neural Processing Unit (NPU) is the newest addition to modern computing hardware. Unlike CPUs and GPUs, NPUs are specifically designed to accelerate Artificial Intelligence tasks at very low power.
NPUs can efficiently process workloads like:
- Real-time language translation
- Voice recognition
- AI image enhancement
- Face recognition
- Background blur during video calls
- AI-generated content
- On-device chatbots
As AI is now a standard feature in smartphones and PCs, manufacturers such as Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Apple, and MediaTek are integrating dedicated NPUs in their new chips.
It also improves privacy to run AI tasks locally using NPUs as sensitive information does not always require to be sent to cloud servers.
What Processor should you care about
For most people, the CPU is still the most important processor. Gamers, designers and content creators use powerful GPUs in great numbers and AI-powered laptops and smartphones depend on NPUs for intelligent features.
Instead of replacing one another, CPUs, GPUs and NPUs complement each other. Today’s devices are built with all three processors to produce faster performance, graphics in real time and smarter AI experiences.
As the artificial intelligence of the future is evolving, NPUs are expected to be as important as CPUs and GPUs in future consumer electronics.
