What exactly is CUDA

[Alpha Spartan A]

Hey guys. I'm new to the forum here and this is my first post. Though trivial information, I just wanted to let you guys know that.

Anyways: I am 14 years old and am an indy game developer using UDK. I am currently in the process of determining a new computer build to purchase, but that's not what this post is about. This post is about Nvidia CUDA.

After doing some research, I can't exactly seem to understand why CUDA is important so I'm asking some questions here to try and clarify what it is for myself and anyone else who has the same query.

Why is it important: What does CUDA afford me as a game player and a developer that i don't get with other cards that don't have it?
What are some practical examples of it's usage: What engines/games use CUDA and how?

And the last question, though possibly more difficult to answer than the others: How can I use CUDA technology in my own VideoGame?

Thanks for your support here guys.

- Thomas

 

[dextermat]

CUDA™ is a parallel computing platform and programming model that enables dramatic increases in computing performance by harnessing the power of the graphics processing unit (GPU).

http://developer.nvidia.com/what-cuda

Can't be clearer than that:

or even better

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CUDA

Basically it's the way the programming language, function, structure in code that are included in the game programming: optimized for nvidia graphics