Those building their own gaming computers, or updating a pre-built one to provide more performance, are undoubtedly familiar with two of the most important components. The processor, also known as the central processing unit or CPU, and the graphics card graphics processing unit (GPU), are of the utmost importance when considering a gaming computer build. The former does general calculations and makes sure the computer is running smoothly, and the latter does graphics processing, which makes it so important in graphics-intensive games.