What is an APU (Accelerated Processing Unit)?

 The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the brain of the computer which handles most of the processing. But there is one area where it is not so excelling and that is graphics. To compensate for this, Graphics Processing Units (GPU) deal directly with visual output tasks. However, designing and manufacturing two units to handle this data is not efficient. The solution is the Accelerated Processing Unit or APU.

What are APUs?

The Accelerated Processing Unit is designed to combine two separate units into a single die. In this case, a single die is a small segment of semiconductor material, containing a mass-produced copy of a circuit.

While it may seem odd to put two circuits on a single die, it is manufacturing and design decisions that determine the performance of your computer.

Reducing the processing unit footprint lowers costs, allows more space for other hardware, and is more efficient. Keeping components close together increases data transfer rates and reduces power consumption as well.

If you've never heard of APU technology before, there's probably a reason the term is used almost exclusively by one manufacturer, AMD.

APU benefits

When considering upgrading your CPU or GPU. There are a lot of products out there, with the same number name with high marketing. Each new release is touted as a major improvement over the last, even if this isn't fully upheld in benchmarking tests.

Of course, it's normal for a company to want to sell their product, so you guys will have less faith in APU as well. However, there are some real benefits to using this technology. The most rapid transformation is in system performance.

If your previous computer used only a single CPU and integrated graphics, then you will see a noticeable performance bump. Tasks will go faster, videos will run smoother, and general speeds will increase. In the long term, you will also see a reduction in power usage.

Since both processors are on the same die, they can share resources as well. This makes your computer more efficient, increases speed, and reduces manufacturing costs. For this reason, APUs are often cheaper and are a more affordable way to upgrade your hardware.

Should You Buy an APU?

Despite these performance gains, choosing whether to buy an APU is not as easy as it seems. The first point to consider is that AMD APUs are only one type of combined processing unit. Intel and other manufacturers also produce components that are like APUs.

Considering that you can buy devices that look and behave like APUs, you might be wondering why you'd choose AMD. While others are thinking towards a combined processor.

However, you should also consider that the APU is a good step up from your motherboard's integrated graphics, but can still be outperformed by an independent GPU. If playing games or videos is an important part of your setup, then the APU will only offer you a minimal upgrade. In that case, it's probably better to buy the high-end CPU and GPU separately.

What's more, APUs were impactful when they were first released in 2011, but as we know technology is always evolving. As combined processors became the industry standard, designers looked for other improvements they could make to electronics. This changes the transformation to System-on-a-Chip.

APU development

AMD released its first APU in January 2011. As previously mentioned, APU is the company's marketing term for combining two processing units on a single die. However, they are not the only companies exploring the benefits of this merger.

Other leading processor manufacturers are also moving in the same direction. Intel begins development on its own combined processing unit, released under several Intel product names. As predicted by Moore's Law, the cost of technology has decreased, while its capabilities have increased. APU is the first stage in the evolution of computer processing and electronics manufacturing.

If combining two computer components on a single die brings performance benefits, then that means that adding more to the die will do the same. This led to the creation of the System-on-a-Chip (SoC) design. SoCs combine most of all the essential components in a single chip. The benefits of this APU design are reduced power consumption, low heat generated, increased performance also applies here.

This design trend was driven by the boom in mobile devices, which occurred around the same time APUs first launched. Mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, need to be less expensive and more portable than their desktop counterparts. Thus, SoC became the industry standard. However, this is only possible thanks to the advancements made through the APU design.

Best Processor For Computer

While APUs played a role in the development of processors, today, they are mostly legacy devices. Many say their combined power offers an advantage over your motherboard's integrated graphics. However, times are always changing, and there are many options out there for you to choose from if you want to upgrade your computer hardware.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________

So many articles What is APU (Accelerated Processing Unit). Look forward to other interesting articles and don't forget to share this article with your friends. Thank you…

Resa Risyan

Just an ordinary person who wants to share a little knowledge, hopefully the knowledge I provide can be useful for all of us. Keep in mind! Useful knowledge is an investment in the afterlife.