GPU

abbreviation or noun

ˌjē-(ˌ)pē-ˈyü 

variants or less commonly gpu

plural GPUs also gpus

: a specialized CPU designed to efficiently perform calculations for generating computer graphics

A GPU can deliver hundreds of billions of operations per second—some GPUs more than a teraflop, or a trillion operations per second—while requiring only slightly more electrical power and cooling than a CPU.

—Andrea Di Blas et al.

Examples of GPU in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The first is that most of the M6’s gains can be attributed to its extra CPU and GPU cores relative to the M5, and the M5 Pro, M5 Max, and M5 Ultra all obviously still have more of both kinds of cores than the M6 does. — ArsTechnica, 21 Sep. 2026

Part of that is due to the former's RTX xx70 tier being unable to compete with the latter's RTX xx90 tier—a gulf that stretches across GPU generations. — Matthew Buzzi, PC Magazine, 19 Sep. 2026

The first is the new S11 chip, which features a secure exclave for microphone data processing on top of a faster CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine. — Victoria Song, The Verge, 17 Sep. 2026

Under heavy load, each GPU can draw several hundred watts and generate heat that must be removed. — Austyn Gaffney, Scientific American, 9 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

graphics processing unit

First Known Use

1973, in the meaning defined above