GRAPHICS PROCESSING UNIT
INFO
COMPREHENSIVE DATA ON GPU TECHNOLOGY, RECYCLING STATISTICS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
GPU OVERVIEW
GRAPHICS PROCESSING UNITS (GPUs) ARE SPECIALIZED ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS DESIGNED TO RAPIDLY MANIPULATE AND ALTER MEMORY TO ACCELERATE THE CREATION OF IMAGES. THE GLOBAL GPU MARKET REACHED $83.62 BILLION IN 2023 AND IS PROJECTED TO GROW TO $396.58 BILLION BY 2032.
FROM GAMING GRAPHICS CARDS TO DATA CENTER GPU CLUSTERS, CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING RIGS TO PROFESSIONAL WORKSTATION CARDS, OUR TEAM EXPERTLY HANDLES ALL TYPES OF GPUs REGARDLESS OF AGE, CONDITION OR QUANTITY. OUR COMPREHENSIVE SERVICES INCLUDE PRECIOUS METAL RECOVERY, COMPONENT REFURBISHMENT, AND PROPER HANDLING OF SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS.
GPUs CONTAIN VALUABLE RECOVERABLE MATERIALS INCLUDING GOLD, SILVER, COPPER, ALUMINUM, AND RARE EARTH ELEMENTS. PROPER GPU RECYCLING CONSERVES NATURAL RESOURCES, REDUCES E-WASTE POLLUTION, AND PREVENTS ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION. WITH THE RAPIDLY GROWING GPU MARKET, RESPONSIBLE RECYCLING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
- REDUCED SEMICONDUCTOR WASTE IN LANDFILLS
- PREVENTION OF TOXIC MATERIAL LEACHING
- CONSERVATION OF PRECIOUS METALS
- REDUCED MINING IMPACT FOR NEW MATERIALS
- DECREASED CARBON FOOTPRINT
- PROTECTION OF ECOSYSTEMS FROM HEAVY METALS
ECONOMIC BENEFITS
- RECOVERY OF HIGH-VALUE COMPONENTS
- SPECIALIZED JOBS IN GPU RECYCLING
- RESALE OF REFURBISHED GAMING CARDS
- REDUCED COSTS FOR NEW MATERIAL EXTRACTION
- SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCE
- GROWING SECONDARY GPU MARKET
INDUSTRIES WE SERVE
- GAMING
- DATA CENTERS
- CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING
- AI RESEARCH
- PROFESSIONAL WORKSTATIONS
- FINANCIAL SERVICES
- EDUCATION
- ENTERTAINMENT
UNDERSTANDING GPUs
THE ESSENTIAL TECHNOLOGY BEHIND MODERN COMPUTING, GAMING, AND AI
WHAT IS A GPU?
A GRAPHICS PROCESSING UNIT (GPU) IS A SPECIALIZED ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT DESIGNED TO RAPIDLY MANIPULATE AND ALTER MEMORY TO ACCELERATE THE CREATION AND RENDERING OF IMAGES, ANIMATIONS, AND VIDEO.
UNLIKE CENTRAL PROCESSING UNITS (CPUs) WHICH HAVE A FEW CORES OPTIMIZED FOR SEQUENTIAL PROCESSING, GPUs HAVE A MASSIVELY PARALLEL ARCHITECTURE CONSISTING OF THOUSANDS OF SMALLER, MORE EFFICIENT CORES DESIGNED FOR HANDLING MULTIPLE TASKS SIMULTANEOUSLY.
DID YOU KNOW?
THE TERM "GPU" WAS POPULARIZED BY NVIDIA IN 1999 WITH THE RELEASE OF THE GeForce 256, MARKETED AS THE "WORLD'S FIRST GPU."
GPU VS. CPU
WHILE CPUs EXCEL AT SEQUENTIAL TASKS REQUIRING INDIVIDUAL COMPLEX CALCULATIONS, GPUs SHINE AT PARALLEL COMPUTATION ON LARGE DATA SETS.
CPU
- • FEW CORES (4-64)
- • COMPLEX LOGIC
- • SEQUENTIAL PROCESSING
- • LOW LATENCY TASKS
- • GENERAL COMPUTING
GPU
- • MANY CORES (1000s)
- • SIMPLE LOGIC UNITS
- • PARALLEL PROCESSING
- • HIGH THROUGHPUT
- • SPECIALIZED COMPUTING
TYPES OF GPUs
1INTEGRATED GPUs
BUILT INTO THE SAME DIE OR PACKAGE AS THE CPU. THEY SHARE SYSTEM MEMORY AND ARE POWER-EFFICIENT, MAKING THEM IDEAL FOR LAPTOPS AND BUDGET SYSTEMS.
EXAMPLES INCLUDE: INTEL® IRIS® Xe, AMD RADEON™ GRAPHICS, APPLE M-SERIES INTEGRATED GRAPHICS
2DISCRETE GPUs
SEPARATE COMPONENTS WITH DEDICATED VRAM (VIDEO MEMORY), PROVIDING HIGHER PERFORMANCE FOR DEMANDING APPLICATIONS, GAMING, AND PROFESSIONAL WORKLOADS.
EXAMPLES INCLUDE: NVIDIA GeForce RTX SERIES, AMD RADEON RX SERIES, INTEL ARC™ SERIES
ARCHITECTURE
MODERN GPUs CONTAIN THOUSANDS OF PROCESSING CORES GROUPED INTO STREAMING MULTIPROCESSORS, WITH DEDICATED CACHE MEMORY HIERARCHIES AND SPECIALIZED UNITS FOR RAY TRACING, TENSOR OPERATIONS, AND MORE.
MEMORY
VRAM (VIDEO RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY) IS SPECIALIZED, HIGH-SPEED MEMORY USED BY GPUs. MODERN CARDS FEATURE GDDR6 OR HBM2 MEMORY WITH BANDWIDTHS EXCEEDING 1TB/s FOR THE FASTEST DATA ACCESS.
TECHNOLOGY
MODERN GPUS INCORPORATE SPECIALIZED HARDWARE FOR RAY TRACING, AI ACCELERATION (TENSOR CORES), AND UPSCALING TECHNOLOGIES LIKE DLSS, FSR, AND XeSS TO ENHANCE PERFORMANCE AND VISUAL QUALITY.
MODERN GPU APPLICATIONS
GAMING
RENDERING REALISTIC 3D WORLDS WITH RAY TRACING, HIGH FRAME RATES, AND RESOLUTIONS UP TO 8K FOR IMMERSIVE GAMING EXPERIENCES.
AI & ML
ACCELERATING DEEP LEARNING TRAINING AND INFERENCE, ENABLING ADVANCEMENTS IN COMPUTER VISION, NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING, AND MORE.
CONTENT CREATION
POWERING VIDEO EDITING, 3D RENDERING, AND CREATIVE SOFTWARE WITH HARDWARE ACCELERATION FOR FASTER WORKFLOWS.
SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING
FACILITATING COMPLEX SIMULATIONS, DATA ANALYSIS, MOLECULAR MODELING, AND OTHER COMPUTE-INTENSIVE RESEARCH TASKS.
GPU PRODUCTION STATISTICS
THE GLOBAL GPU MARKET IS EXPERIENCING RAPID GROWTH DUE TO GAMING, AI DEVELOPMENT, AND CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING
GPU MARKET COMPOSITION BY APPLICATION, 2023
$83.62 BILLION GLOBAL MARKET
KEY INSIGHTS:
- GAMING REMAINS THE LARGEST MARKET SEGMENT FOR GPU USAGE AT 35.7%
- DATA CENTER GPU USAGE HAS GROWN RAPIDLY TO 26.9% DUE TO AI AND MACHINE LEARNING
- CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING DEMAND FLUCTUATES SIGNIFICANTLY WITH MARKET TRENDS
- APPROXIMATELY 55 MILLION DISCRETE GPUs WERE MANUFACTURED IN 2023
- AVERAGE GPU LIFESPAN IS 3-5 YEARS IN CONSUMER APPLICATIONS, CREATING SIGNIFICANT RECYCLING POTENTIAL
GPU RECYCLING STATISTICS
LESS THAN 20% OF DISCARDED GPUs ARE PROPERLY RECYCLED, CREATING A SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT
GPU RECOVERY BY COMPONENT, 2023
MATERIAL RECOVERY RATES
RECYCLING CHALLENGES:
- COMPLEX MULTI-MATERIAL COMPOSITION
- MINIATURIZATION MAKING COMPONENT SEPARATION DIFFICULT
- SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT NEEDED FOR EFFICIENT RECOVERY
- FLUCTUATING MARKET VALUE OF RECOVERED MATERIALS
- GROWING VOLUME DUE TO SHORTER UPGRADE CYCLES
- NEED FOR ADVANCED SORTING TECHNOLOGIES
GPU TYPES & BUYBACK PRICING
CURRENT BUYBACK VALUES FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF GRAPHICS CARDS
GAMING GPUs
MARKET FACTORS:
PRICING BASED ON CONDITION, AGE, MODEL VARIANT, AND CURRENT MARKET DEMAND. LIMITED EDITIONS AND FOUNDER'S EDITIONS TYPICALLY COMMAND A PREMIUM.
MINING GPUs
MINING CONDITION NOTES:
MINING CARDS ARE ASSESSED BASED ON OPERATIONAL HOURS, COOLING HISTORY, AND PERFORMANCE TESTING. MINING-OPTIMIZED CARDS MAY HAVE REDUCED VALUES COMPARED TO RETAIL MODELS.
PROFESSIONAL GPUs
ENTERPRISE VALUE:
PROFESSIONAL GPUS MAINTAIN HIGHER RESALE VALUES DUE TO SPECIALIZED CAPABILITIES AND ENTERPRISE CERTIFICATION. DATA CENTER UNITS ARE EVALUATED BASED ON OPERATIONAL HISTORY.
VINTAGE GPUs
COLLECTIBLE FACTORS:
VINTAGE GPU VALUES DEPEND ON RARITY, HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE, CONDITION, PACKAGING COMPLETENESS, AND COLLECTOR DEMAND. SOME MODELS HAVE SIGNIFICANT HISTORICAL VALUE BEYOND MATERIALS.
READY TO RECYCLE YOUR GPUs?
CONTACT US TODAY TO SCHEDULE A PICKUP OR GET A QUOTE FOR YOUR GRAPHICS CARDS. OUR TEAM WILL ENSURE YOUR GPUs ARE RECYCLED RESPONSIBLY OR PURCHASED AT COMPETITIVE RATES.