X-bit labs - Hardware news - ATI and NVIDIA Proclaim Different Graphics Processors Architecture Goals
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`December, 2004
`i 23
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`“ol
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`2S) News Categories =<
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`(ATI and NVIDIA Prociaim Different
`
`_Graphics Processors Architecture Goals
`
`&& Print article
`WATT Says Unified Rendering Engine ~ the Way to Go,
`
`& Send link to friend
`NVIDIA Disagrees
`
`
`
`by Anton Shiloy
`
`
`
`12/23/2004 | 07:55 AM
` SS) Information
`X-bit labs Year 2004 © While particular approaches in graphics processing units design have been
`Poll
`_
`pretty different for leading computer visual companies ATI Technologies
`and NVIDIA Corp.,
`in future the architecture of GPUs from the firms may
`
`CPU
`be fundamentally different, as executives from both companies proclaim
`» Chipsets
`i
` about the
`different approaches for chip internal architectures.
`» Memory
`participating in the
`hardware market and
`+ Mainboards
`NVIDIA Disagrees with ATI Technologies
`r Video
`their results in 2
`
`who
`4
`ATI Technologies’ developer relations manager Richard Huddysaid last
`
`» Storage
`» Multimedia
`
`
`Whatis
`sand month during a conference in London, UK, that the company’s future
`» Mobile
`
`whatisa marketing _ visual processing units will feature unified pixel and shader processing.
`
`gimmick? Shareyour
`= While he declined to elaborate on the timeframes for such chips, he said
`
`opinionwithus—_choose| unified pixel and vertex data processing is a required capability for
`
`7004... Windows Graphics Foundation 2.0 that comes out together with Microsoft’s
`vo
`/
`next-generation operating system called Windows Longhorn. On of the
`benefits the unified approach brings is ability to dynamically allocate chip
`resources depending on the demand for pixel and vertex processing, Mr.
`Huddy said. Another one is simplified software development.
`
`+ Other
`
`Thursday, December 23,
`2004
`
`FIS:L7 pm | video) ATT’S Rialto
`
`NVIDIA Corp.'s chief architect David Kirk called the unified graphics
`engines as an implementation detail, not a feature, but admitted the
`unified architecture would be nice for programmers, who would have one
`instruction set for vertex and pixel shaders.
`
`“It’s not clear to me that an architecture for a good, efficient, and fast
`vertex shader is the same as the architecture for a good and fast pixel
`shader. A pixel shader would need far, far more texture math performance
`and read bandwidth than an optimized vertex shader. So, if you used that
`pixel shader to do vertex shading, most of the hardware would be idle,
`most of the time. Which is better — a lean and mean optimized vertex
`shader and a lean and mean optimized pixel shader or two less-efficient
`hybrid shaders? There is an old saying: ‘Jack of all trades, master of
`none’,” Mr. Kirk said in an interview with ExtremeTech web-site.
`
`ATI: Bridging Today and Tomorrow
`
`Not much is known about the architecture and capabilities of the code-
`named R520 product scheduled for release in Q2 2005 that wasinitially
`referred as the R500. What is clear now is that the new graphics chip will
`
`Couple of Months”. ATI's
`AGP-to-PCI Express Bridge
`to be Ready Soon
`b (2:22 pm | cpuy IBM's,Apple's
`Computers to Get
`Virtualization in 2005. IBM to
`Incorporate Virtualization
`Technologies into Power
`Chips Next Year
`+ [10:38 am | Other} Intel to
`Strengthen Concentration on
`Platform at Upcoming
`IDF. Intel Developer Forum
`Puts Tomorrow's Platforms
`Center Stage
`(7:55 am | Video) ATT and
`NVIDIA Proclaim Different
`Graphics Processors
`Architecture Goals. ATI Says
`
`hitp://web.archive.org/web/20041224013927/http://wwwxbitlabs.com/news/video/display/2004 1223075525 html[9/12/2015 3:49:31 PM]
`
`AMD1318_0154035
`ATI Ex. 2129
`IPR2023-00922
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`X-bit labs - Hardware news - ATI and NVIDIA Proclaim Different Graphics Processors Architecture Goals
`
`sport Shader Model 3.0 — pixel shaders 3.0 and vertex shaders 3.0 —
`bringing additional programming capabilities to ATI’s future graphics
`processors as well as some other innovations.
`
`Unified Rendering Engine —
`the Way to Go, NVIDIA
`| Disagrees
`b [5:52am | Chipsets] Intel to
`Remove DDR? Support from
`ATI's R5xx architecture will not resemble that of the previous generation
`pport
`Forthcoming Mainstream
`products and NVIDIA‘’s GeForce 6 architecture known as NV4x, particularly
`= Gpjncore Intel's 915PL and
`ATI will implement efficient flow-control, a crucial feature for pixel shaders
`selllDSES.
`3.0, that will not bring speed penalty it does on existing SM3.0 hardware,
`:
`:
`rane
`|
`915GL Chipsets to Lack
`according to sources. The future of the graphics hardwarelies in higher
`' DDR? Support
`number of ALUs ops per texture ops, unified pixel and vertex shaders as
`:
`weil as some other requirements of Microsoft Windows Longhorn
`operating system, such as virtualisation and context switches. While ATI
`agrees on the long-term goals for its roadmap, it does not namefeature-
`set of actual products and saysall the architectural changes will be
`implemented gradually, not at once.
`
`Some sources claim that the R500 is a code-name of ATI's graphics
`processor that will be submitted for Microsoft’s next Xbox console. The
`shader core of the R500 was reported to have 48 Arithmetic Logic Units
`(ALUs) that can execute 64 simultaneous threads on groups of 64 vertices
`or pixels. ALUs are automatically and dynamically assigned to either pixel
`or vertex processing depending on load. The ALUs can each perform one
`vector and one scalar operation per clock cycle, for a total of 96 shader
`operations per clock cycle. Texture loads can be done in parallel to ALU
`operations. At peak performance, the GPU can issue 48 billion shader
`operations per second,
`it was said.
`
`:
`News Archive —
`
`
`
`The R520 is also expected to feature advanced memoryinterface,
`presumably supporting GODDR4 memory.
`
`NVIDIA: Pians Unciear
`
`While NVIDIA remains extremely tight-lipped over its future products, it is
`known that the companyis readying its code-named NV47 visual
`processing unit, a massively revamped GeForce 6 architecture with 24
`pixel pipelines. The NV47 is expected to be released sometime in Spring,
`2005, but it is unknown whether NVIDIA is ahead, or behind ATI’s R520
`product. NVIDIA also reportedly plans to release a chip called NV48 in O2
`2005.
`
`The status of NVIDIA's future architecture code-named NV50 is aiso
`uncertain: some reported recently that the chip had been cancelled, but
`Officiais decline to confirm or deny the information.
`
`Related mews:
`
`» NVIDIA's PureVideo Accelerates Media on the PC. NVIDIA Finally
`Delivers GeForce6 Video Engine
`
`+ Gigabyte Pluas Two Graphics Processors on One Graphics Card.
`Gigabyte 3D1 with Two GeForce 6600 GT Outperforms Top VPUs
`
`» NVIDIA's NV48 to be Made at TSMC, Says Article. NVIDIA's NV48 May
`Still Be in Plans, Contrary to Reports
`
`» Industry Welcomes NVIDIA's New Low-End Graphics Cards. NVIDIA's
`GeForce 6200 with TurboCache Set to Redefine Entry-Level
`
`» Samsung Tests Memory for 512MB Graphics Cards. Samsung Samples
`512Mb GDDR3 Chips
`» NVIDIAStrikesPC]ExpressGraphicsCardsPromotionDealwithIntel.
`Intel Corp. to Supply NVIDIA's Graphics Cards with its Mainboards
`
`» NVIDIA Begins to Certify Hardware for Mult-GPU Deployments.
`NVIDIA Launches SLI Certification and Logo Program
`
`
`
`hitp://web.archive.org/web/20041224013927/http://wwwxbitlabs.com/news/video/display/2004 1223075525 html[9/12/2015 3:49:31 PM]
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`AMD1318_0154036
`ATI Ex, 2129
`IPR2023-00922
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`X-bit labs - Hardware news - ATI and NVIDIA Proclaim Different Graphics Processors Architecture Goals
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`
`
` & Discussion
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`Comments currently: 8
`Discussion started: 12/23/04
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`hitp://web.archive.org/web/20041224013927/http://wwwxbitlabs.com/news/video/display/2004 1223075525 html[9/12/2015 3:49:31 PM]
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`ATI Ex, 2129
`IPR2023-00922
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