I wondered why programs like Badaboom can convert videos much faster on most graphics cards then every program working on the CPU. I want to know whether the difference is in chip layout or the components (Cache,...) around the CPU/GPU.
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1I would suggest you read this article first: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/128681-the-wretched-state-of-gpu-transcoding – TheZ Aug 13 '12 at 18:42
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GPU video encoding is usually a fixed-function logic block of dedicated video-encoding hardware; it *doesn't* take advantage of the GPU's regular compute capability. That's why it's fast but can't achieve as good quality per bitrate as x264 / x265 with a good preset like `-preset slow`. See [Why processor is "better" for encoding than GPU?](https://video.stackexchange.com/a/14657) for why software encoders like x265 can't easily use the GPU to help, only full handoff to the GPU's dedicated hardware or nothing, AFAIK. – Peter Cordes Apr 22 '20 at 08:42
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GPUs are built for parallel processing from the ground up. A general purpose CPU will never be able to catch up. On the other hand, because GPUs are so focused on parallel operations, they make for very poor general purpose CPUs.
This video visually demonstrates the difference very nicely: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqdLrACBrOI
Marc B
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GPUs and CPUs are like comparing a cars engine to it's transmission, they are meant for different things. A GPU only processes the graphics portion of the overall system, whereas a CPU is primarily for everything else but can also perform graphics processing.
System cache, memory, drive speed, GPU type, CPU type (speed; mem cache; bus speed; etc.) also play into effect on the overall system.
