Most people are familiar with the graphics processor unit (GPU), which is an important part of making your PC or smartphone graphically and video enabled. In fact, the GPU has a long history.

It started out primarily as a peripheral supplementing the central processing unit (CPU), first in high end workstations and then in a PC. It was optimized to support graphical operations (something that a CPU of early days did not do very well). Fast forward to today, and we find that most general purpose CPU chips powering the typical PC have more than enough graphics capability built in from an internal GPU to process normal apps and video operations (although some high end apps like gaming and VR/AR still need an external GPU for maximum performance).

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