This document provides an introduction and overview of GPUs for both 3D graphics and high performance parallel computing. It discusses:
1) How GPUs accelerated the 3D graphics pipeline and enabled real-time rendering of 3D scenes and games.
2) How GPUs are now being used for general purpose computing (GPGPU) due to their highly parallel architecture and ability to handle massive threading. This allows GPUs to accelerate computationally intensive applications beyond just graphics.
3) The advantages of using GPUs for high performance parallel computing applications, including their high floating point performance, inherent parallelism, and ability to provide supercomputing power at a fraction of the cost of traditional CPU-based supercomputers