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I predict that this is primarily going into a Cell like architecture -- (relatively) pissweak main MPU surrounded by a bucketload of kickass specialized process
by jfb 16y ago
I predict that this is primarily going into a Cell like architecture -- (relatively) pissweak main MPU surrounded by a bucketload of kickass specialized processors (in Toshiba/Sony's case, beefy vector units, in Denver, super high end nVidia GPU cores) on a v. fast memory bus. The presence of Windows for ARM is interesting, too -- I wonder if we're looking at the beginnings of XOBX 720 here.
- corysama 16y agoOne of Nvidia's arguments is that there are few HPC applications that benefit from >4cores that don't benefit much more from a good GPU implementation. Therefore, an optimal configuration is to have a reasonable 4-core CPU with really good serial performance/watt directing GPUs with amazing parallel performance/watt. That design definitely echoes the Cell concept.
- Create 16y agoLongsoon comes to mind (it has the MIPS dialect of RiSC, with hw qemu x86 accel., dedicated DSP-like additional cores with FMA etc).
- kjksf 16y agoDoubtful. Specialized graphics processor combined with a weak CPU makes sense in a console where graphics generation and display is core task. In a server context, GPUs don't make sense. They won't make your web server or a database or Ruby any faster. In fact, in a server a GPU could be stripped off completely to save cost and power without impacting the performance. Programming a GPU or other specialized processors requires custom code. You can't just recompile your database written in C or Java to magically take advantage of them. And since people can't afford to rewrite the whole software stack to take advantage of such capabilities just to serve web pages, it's not going to happen. As the article says, the main reasons those chips might get traction is low power (and possibly low cost) since the cost of power is very important at scale and ARM is better at power management than Intel.
- jfb 16y agoI agree that they're not targeting the Linux VPS/Big Oracle Machine market; this design doesn't make any sense. The power they're saving on ARM MPU they're giving right back with multicore nVidia GPU. There are significant HPC applications that leverage CUDA that would run very nicely on this design; and you can see a nice dual/quad core low power ARM MPU with two or three low-powered GPU units being an attractive option for tablet/phone manufacturers, as well.
- wmf 16y agoThat's a key issue; strong GPU + weak CPU is great for just about every market other than general-purpose servers. So is it worth it for Nvidia to build a separate ARM-only chip just for the general-purpose server market? (especially considering that Marvell and Calxeda are already targeting that market)
- jfb 16y agoI don't think Denver is going to end up in many general purpose servers regardless of what the press release might say.