AMD’s Analyst Update
AMD's new management took to the stage to highlight a new strategy and share the roadmap for 2012-2013. The executives generally came across well and there are only a few changes from the existing...
View ArticleImpressions of Kepler
Our first look at Kepler focuses on architectural changes to the shader core that emphasize graphics performance and the enhanced power management. Based on our analysis of Nvidia's 28nm GPU strategy,...
View ArticleIntel’s Ivy Bridge Graphics Architecture
The Ivy Bridge GPU takes advantage of Intel's 22nm FinFET process to nearly double performance and enhance programmability with DX11 and OpenCL 1.1 support. The new scalable architecture features more...
View ArticleComputational Efficiency for CPUs and GPUs in 2012
New compute efficiency data shows GPUs with a clear edge over CPUs, but the gap is narrowing as CPUs adopt wide vectors (e.g. AVX). Surprisingly, a throughput CPU is the most energy efficient...
View ArticleIntel’s Near-Threshold Voltage Computing and Applications
Near-threshold voltage computing extends the voltage scaling associated with Moore's Law and dramatically improves power and energy efficiency. The technology is superb for throughput, at the cost of...
View ArticleLessons in Technology and Innovation from the iPad 3 Graphics and Display
The iPad 3 was an influential and successful tablet, but an excellent example of an unbalanced system. In particular, the superb Retina display was not adequately matched by the GPU of the A5X, and...
View ArticleIntel’s Long Awaited Return to the Memory Business
Graphics is a focal point of the upcoming Haswell platform, necessitating a high bandwidth memory solution. To deliver high performance Intel is returning to the DRAM market, which it exited in 1985....
View ArticleAdaptive Clocking in AMD’s Steamroller
My favorite paper from the ISSCC processor session describes an adaptive clocking technique implemented in AMD’s 28nm Steamroller core that compensates for power supply noise. Initial results show a...
View ArticleTile-based Rasterization in Nvidia GPUs
Starting with the Maxwell GM20x architecture, Nvidia high-performance GPUs have borrowed techniques from low-power mobile graphics architectures. Specifically, Maxwell and Pascal use tile-based...
View ArticleA Look Inside Apple’s Custom GPU for the iPhone
Previously, Apple’s iPhones and iPads used PowerVR GPUs from Imagination Technologies for graphics. Based on our analysis, Apple has created a custom GPU that powers the A8, A9, and 10 processors,...
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