Editing Vector processor (section)

{{Short description|Computer processor which works on arrays of several numbers at once}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|Array processor|array processing}}
{{About|Processors (including [[GPU]]s) that were specifically designed from the ground up to handle large Vectors (Arrays)|SIMD instructions present in some general-purpose computers|Flynn's taxonomy#Single instruction stream, multiple data streams (SIMD)}}

In [[computing]], a '''vector processor''' or '''array processor''' is a [[central processing unit]] (CPU) that implements an [[instruction set]] where its [[Instruction (computer science)|instructions]] are designed to operate efficiently and effectively on large [[Array data structure|one-dimensional array]]s of data called ''vectors''. This is in contrast to [[scalar processor]]s, whose instructions operate on single data items only, and in contrast to some of those same scalar processors having additional [[single instruction, multiple data]] (SIMD) or [[SIMD within a register]] (SWAR) Arithmetic Units. Vector processors can greatly improve performance on certain workloads, notably [[numerical simulation]], [[Data compression|compression]] and similar tasks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=asm-lessons/lesson_01/index.md at main · FFmpeg/asm-lessons |url=https://github.com/FFmpeg/asm-lessons/blob/main/lesson_01/index.md |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=GitHub |language=en}}</ref> Vector processing techniques also operate in [[video game console|video-game console]] hardware and in [[graphics accelerator]]s.

Vector machines appeared in the early 1970s and dominated [[supercomputer]] design through the 1970s into the 1990s, notably the various [[Cray]] platforms. The rapid fall in the [[price-to-performance ratio]] of conventional [[microprocessor]] designs led to a decline in vector supercomputers during the 1990s.