Intel details Larrabee multi-core graphics processor
As a prelude to the SIGGRAPH expo, Intel has revealed some key details of its first dedicated 3D chipset and its potential for expanding what developers can do with 3D graphics.
Using a more universal architecture would free developers of games and application programming interfaces (APIs) much more freedom, Intel says. Where current-day video chipsets force these software creators to work with largely pre-existing tools, the familiarity of an x86 design would purportedly give developers a "blank canvas" to add new effects or otherwise extend what Larrabee could do without changing the hardware itself.
The implementation would be different enough from Intel's normal central processor units to be optimized for graphics, however. The core itself would contain logic to handle graphics as well as many simultaneous code threads, and would have a dedicated vector processing unit to greatly improve the potential power of the chip for its intended role.
Larrabee would also reduce some of the traffic problems that can bog down existing multi-core chips. The design will use an ultra-wide "ring" network in between the numerous cores to reduce the lag between many different cores, even when processing many tasks at the same time.
Each core would also have extensions to handle 64-bit data in addition to multithreading, further optimizing the depth and number of duties Larrabee can handle at once.
The new architecture isn't due to appear until 2009 or 2010 but will first be launched directly into the mainstream instead of the high-end workstation and server markets Intel often uses as its testbeds for its central processors. It also wouldn't require a substantial break for developers and would support the DirectX and OpenGL graphics libraries used to make existing software, including games and other 3D apps.
16 Comments
This sounds pretty interesting. I'm still wondering what Apple will do with their graphics cards and chipsets. (I admit, I'm not that experienced in GPU technology.) According to this article, they could easily go with either company in regards to either their chipsets. After all, NVIDIA and Intel still work together really well.
This development from Intel looks like it will definitely compliment both the graphics cards in Apple's computers and the technologies, especially OPEN CL, used in Mac OS 10. I already know NVIDIA is already excellent at graphics and that Apple might really partner with them for their chipsets. However, Intel looks like they are really coming along with their technology. Assuming this Larrabee chip will make its way into Apple computers - let alone see the light of day, Apple might bode well to stay with Intel.
Does Larrabee even need OpenCL support? They are basically x86 cores so Grand Central should be able to manage them directly without having to go through OpenCL. Should be less overhead and translation.
The great thing is:
OpenCL has the backing of Intel (Larabee), AMD (Radeon), Nvidia (GeForce), Imagination (the incredible PowerVR in iPhone) and ARM (Miro - unused by Apple as yet)
OpenCL gives a single API that will be supported from iPhone to Mac Pro on and give Apple a wide variety of choices for graphics processors.
It's great to not be locked in.
Does Larrabee even need OpenCL support? They are basically x86 cores so Grand Central should be able to manage them directly without having to go through OpenCL. Should be less overhead and translation.
Indeed. It's not a GPU, it's a CPU, something many people don't understand.
Am I the only one who feels Larabee is doomed to fail?