Okuzeka
Game Development vocabulary · Rendering, Graphics & Performance

GPU

Meaning in game development, with examples

/ˌdʒiː piː ˈjuː/abbreviationCore term

In game development, GPU means: Short for graphics processing unit: the chip that renders a game's images by running shaders and drawing millions of pixels every frame. The CPU handles most of the game logic.

In Turkish: GPU, grafik işlemci, ekran kartı

How it is used

Developers say a game is GPU-bound when the graphics card is the bottleneck and CPU-bound when the processor is. Minimum and recommended specs list a GPU model. In everyday speech players say graphics card.

Example sentences

  1. We're GPU-bound in the forest; the foliage shader is the main cost.

  2. The minimum spec requires a GPU with at least 4 GB of video memory.

Common collocations

  • GPU-bound
  • GPU memory
  • GPU time
  • minimum spec GPU
  • renderingThe process in which the computer turns a 3D or 2D scene, with its models, textures and lights, into the final image shown on the screen.
  • shaderA small program that runs on the graphics card and decides how surfaces look, for example their color, lighting, shine and transparency, or effects like water and fire.
  • draw callA command the CPU sends to the graphics card to draw a group of polygons with one material. Too many draw calls per frame can slow a game down.
  • frame rateThe number of images a game draws on the screen each second, measured in frames per second (fps). A higher, steadier frame rate makes the game look and feel smoother.
  • profilerA tool that measures where a game spends its time and memory, frame by frame, so developers can find what makes it slow instead of guessing.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Rendering, Graphics & Performance

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: