GPU and graphics processing in Intro to Computing - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

What is the primary role of a GPU in a computer system?

Imagine you are organizing a large photo album. You can either do it alone or ask friends to help. Which role does the GPU play in this scenario?

A It is the main person who decides which photos to take.

B It stores all the photos permanently like a photo album.

C It acts like a friend helping to organize many photos at once, speeding up the process.

D It cleans the photos to make them look better.

💡 Hint

Think about tasks that require handling many things simultaneously.

The GPU is designed to handle many tasks at the same time, like helping organize many photos quickly. It speeds up graphics and parallel tasks.

❓ trace

intermediate

Trace the steps of rendering a 3D image using a GPU

Follow the flow of how a GPU renders a 3D image from a model to the screen. Which step comes third?

A The final image is displayed on the screen.

B The GPU processes vertices and shapes.

C Model data is sent to the GPU.

D Textures and colors are applied to shapes.

💡 Hint

Think about the order: first data, then shape processing, then adding details, then display.

After the GPU processes the shapes, it applies textures and colors before showing the image on screen.

❓ Comparison

advanced

Compare CPU and GPU processing styles

Which statement best describes the difference between CPU and GPU processing?

A CPU is designed for single tasks quickly; GPU is designed for many tasks simultaneously.

B CPU handles many simple tasks at once; GPU handles one complex task at a time.

C CPU and GPU both process tasks in the exact same way but at different speeds.

D GPU is only used for storing data, while CPU processes all calculations.

💡 Hint

Think about how many tasks each can handle at the same time.

CPUs are optimized for fast single tasks, while GPUs excel at handling many tasks in parallel.

❓ identification

advanced

Identify the error in GPU shader code snippet

Given this simplified GPU shader code snippet, which option shows the error?

float4 main(float4 pos : POSITION) : SV_POSITION {
    float4 color = float4(1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0);
    return pos + color;
}

A Adding position and color vectors directly is invalid.

B The color vector has wrong number of components.

C The function should return a color, not a position.

D The input parameter 'pos' is missing a semantic.

💡 Hint

Think about what adding position and color vectors means in graphics.

Position and color are different types of data and cannot be added directly in shader code.

🚀 Application

expert

Determine the output of parallel GPU task scheduling

A GPU schedules 4 tasks to run in parallel, each taking different times: Task A - 2ms, Task B - 5ms, Task C - 3ms, Task D - 4ms. If all start simultaneously, how long until all finish?

A 2 milliseconds

B 5 milliseconds

C 14 milliseconds

D 3 milliseconds

💡 Hint

Think about when the last task finishes.

Since tasks run in parallel, total time is the longest single task time, which is 5ms.