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This MS blogger even calls it "heterogeneous", I guess because it runs on two AMD chips in the same PC. No, I think its hetergeneous because the code can targe
by kenjackson 15y ago
This MS blogger even calls it "heterogeneous", I guess because it runs on two AMD chips in the same PC.
No, I think its hetergeneous because the code can target the CPU, APUs, or GPUs, or a combination thereof.
Also, according to some articles on it, "Herb also disclosed that the C++ AMP is going to open specification such that other compilers can target C++ AMP optimizations."
So in theory Intel's compiler can also target it. From looking at one snippet of code, it looks like something that would also work on any platform, even non-Windows, despite the current implementation sitting on DX. But I haven't seen the spec to know for sure.
- marshray 15y agoNo, I think its hetergeneous because the code can target the CPU, APUs, or GPUs, or a combination thereof. Right, two AMD chips in the same PC, unless its a combined CPU/GPU thingies they're always talking about. Well OK, maybe it could be an Intel emulating the AMD64 instruction set and an Nvidia GPU running DirectX. But still, just two, and only one implementation of the compiler and runtime environment. Like the Microsoft habit calling their stuff "cross platform" because it runs on both XP and Vista, the term "heterogeneous" means something different to the rest of the world. So in theory Intel's compiler can also target it. Note that one of the prerequisites for Intel's Windows compiler is Visual Studio.
- kenjackson 15y agoHonestly, I don't know what you're talking about. What do you expect heterogeneous to mean in this context? It's mixing ISAs.
- marshray 15y agoIt sounds to me like one of the ISAs is x86/x64 Windows and the other is the thing you get with Direct3D. Sure it's "heterogenous" but only in the same sense as, say, .Net managed and native code both built with Visual Studio are. I need to watch the video if I'm going to complain any more.
- kenjackson 15y agoHeterogeneous in this context is GPU+APU+CPU. I'm not clear what is throwing you here. What are you expecting? From (written by NVidia): http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=187&Itemid=99999999 http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&... What is heterogeneous computing? Heterogeneous computing is the idea that to attain the highest efficiency applications should use both of the major processors in the PC: the CPU and GPU. CPUs tend to be best at serial operations with lots of branches and random memory access. GPUs, on the other hand, excel at parallel operations with lots of floating point calculations. The best result is achieved by using a CPU for serial applications and a GPU for parallel applications. Heterogeneous computing is about using the right processor for the right operation.
- marshray 15y agoOK, that makes sense. I was used to the older concept of "heterogeneous systems" which tended to emphasize interoperability between independent platforms and vendors.
- kenjackson 15y agoNote that one of the prerequisites for Intel's Windows compiler is Visual Studio. Is it really? That would be funny, because it's not even a prereq for the Microsoft Visual C++ compiler!
- marshray 15y agoNot sure, it may have actually been for a non-crippleware MS Visual C++, rather than the whole Visual Studio. Just checked again, it looks like the "Intel C++ Composer XE 2011 for Windows" has relaxed that requirement a bit. http://software.intel.com/file/31856 http://software.intel.com/file/31856 It looks like it actually can be installed with just the Microsoft SDK now and no longer requires MSVC++ or Visual Studio.