I am in San Francisco this week to help support Microsoft’s IE9 public beta launch.  You may have read my blog  on Direct2D (D2D) acceleration and how D2D is poised to help revolutionize one of the most common activities on your PC: surfing the web. Naturally, I’m very excited to be here to witness a new chapter in the history of the web unfold.

What excites me the most is how IE9 is going to utilize the GPU for rendering images and video on the web.

By using the GPU and a software rasterizer instead of the CPU alone, IE9 will enable performance improvements and better image quality. As one of the innovators working closely with Microsoft to help define the API and performance optimization, one of our key tasks is to showcase what we are doing for people who may not be versed in the intricacies of render backends and APIs.  So, we chose to write our own game called “AMD Space Command”.

It is a very simple game-like application.  It was written in HTML5 and calls on D2D acceleration inside the Internet Explorer browser.  The gameplay is fairly basic. An AMD spaceship with a gun shoots objects that fly across the screen.  The game is designed to measure a computer’s performance (in frames per second) while running a web-based application.

Recall in my previous post, there are very few websites today that tax computers and web  browsers because developers are only writing for a CPU-based render back end, which is the lowest common denominator.  AMD wanted to demonstrate a computer’s true capability when web browsing is accelerated by the GPU.

The game has numerous sprites, and with a slider you can increase the number of sprites until the system crawls.  On CPU-based render backends, the game is almost unplayable even at the lowest setting. Here is a brief side-by-side demonstration we put together featuring a system based on our APU codenamed “Zacate” , an 18-watt Fusion processor, playing AMD Space Command:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lLNHTu4oLk

What we are showing here is how a GPU is much more capable than a CPU for visually-intense web experiences, such as games.  Once we are able to get developers to see the possibilities, they can begin writing richer content for webpages intended to provide great visual experiences for their visitors. This can help usher in a new era for the web.  After all, AMD’s mission with the AMD Fusion APU is to help enhance the visual experience for everyone.

Want to try “AMD Space Command” for yourself?  The game is available on the Microsoft’s IE 9 Beta website.

Before you can blast off into space, be sure you have already downloaded & installed:

1. Internet Explorer 9 Beta
2. The latest ATI Catalyst drivers

While you wait on the launch pad, check out Simon Solotko’s overview of the upcoming “Zacate” APU

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZE2SuJlJCw

Godfrey Cheng is Director, Client Technology Unit at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such links sites and no endorsement is implied.

Allow me to set the stage for my explanation with some brief definitions:

• Discrete graphics processing unit (GPU):  In simple terms, it is a graphics processor that is separate from both the chipset and CPU; it has its own memory, connects to the system through PCI Express, and is usually found on an add-in graphics card.
• Accelerated processing unit (APU):  Also in simple terms, it’s an x86 CPU combined with the memory controller and graphics processor.
• CPU & GPU: The traditional CPU is primarily a scalar processor, while the GPU is primarily a vector processor.

The eventual creation of the APU was one of the key reasons for AMD’s acquisition of ATI in 2006.  This acquisition brought to AMD industry-leading GPU and chipset technologies, and a software team to support them.  As we sit on the precipice of launching the first generation of APUs, people are wondering if discrete GPUs will disappear altogether.

To best answer that question, you have to know why discrete graphics exist in the first place. One of the main reasons people want a discrete GPU is  to improve gaming performance.  Gamers have remained loyal to AMD & ATI for more than a decade – a decade that has seen some pretty incredible changes in the industry.  This segment shows no signs of disappearing anytime soon and we intend to continue to provide enthusiasts with leading discrete graphics solutions.  In fact, we have several generations of APUs and GPUs in development right now! Sigh of relief No.1.

When designing silicon products, one must make tradeoffs in performance, power and size (cost).  When we designed our initial APUs, we chose to place our emphasis on reducing power consumption and cost.  In so doing we chose a level of graphics performance lower than that provided by our highest end discrete GPUs.  Here is another way to look at it. An APU must run the whole system, which requires a mix of vector processors, scalar processors and cache memory. A discrete GPU is dedicated to graphics and parallel compute, so almost all the silicon can be dedicated to vector processing. So area for area, a discrete GPU will pack more punch for the gamer or video enthusiast.  Sigh of relief No.2.

AMD’s APUs are designed to deliver exceptional performance – and we believe this will be readily apparent when compared to integrated graphics products available from the competition. Some of our APUs, by sheer performance alone, are expected to be faster than some discrete GPUs on the market. And as our GPU cores improve, you can expect our APU graphics performance to similarly improve.  AMD’s strategy is to leverage these world-class graphics cores and continue to raise the bar, as we have always done.  OK, you get it.  AMD’s APUs are designed to be as fast as some discrete GPUs but not as fast as the higher end discrete GPUs.

But this is just the start of where AMD plans to innovate…

To really answer the question “will discrete GPUs die out?” we need to look at the quantum level.  Despite having the power budget for nearly unbounded performance, one of the bottlenecks for discrete GPUs is PCI Express, the interface to the system.  In the case of graphics workloads, normally PCI Express does not present a constant bottleneck, however, everyone and their dog has heard of parallel computing.  This is the case where there is a lot of traffic between the discrete GPU, CPU and main memory, and PCI Express becomes a liability in terms of bandwidth and latency.

Many people do not realize this, but the “life” of a CPU is dreadful and boring. It exists primarily waiting for data.  The use of discrete GPUs for parallel computing through PCI Express will not improve the “quality of life” of the CPU.  While some discrete GPUs will offer graphics and pure FLOP performance over an APU, the performance will be limited, in some cases, by the PCI Express interconnect.

This is where AMD Fusion APUs will shine.  AMD Fusion APUs have not only been designed to offer great graphics performance, they also have been designed to offer great parallel compute performance.  The fact that the CPU core resides next to the GPU core connected by a bus of mere nanometers, helps diminish the bandwidth and latency issues presented to parallel computing on a PCIE bus.

The design plan for successive generation of AMD APUs includes architectural innovation, as well as tighter and faster interconnects between the CPU cores and the GPU cores. One goal is to advance the parallel compute capabilities without sacrificing x86 and graphics performance.

So, to finally answer the question whether discrete GPUs will die, the answer is: Hell No.

AMD relies on our ability to generate world-class discrete graphics cores and then leverages them in our APU product lines.   You should also expect AMD to innovate when an AMD discrete graphics is plugged into an AMD APU, the mythical word of “synergy” will be realized.  We are expecting to improve both graphics and compute performance.

Besides the technical reasons why discrete GPUs will not disappear anytime soon, AMD likes the taste of success.  To stay the market leader in discrete graphics solutions, AMD plans to continue to develop better and better discrete GPU products.   And to make the point, we’ve scheduled a whole new generation of discrete GPUs for release later this year.  Beware ye of little faith.

Next Question!

Godfrey Cheng is Director, Client Technology Unit at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such links sites and no endorsement is implied.

March marks a bit of an inflection point in PC gaming.  This month sees three of world’s leading game publishers bringing DirectX 10.1 games to market – a sign that developers are increasingly recognizing the quality and performance benefits that can be gained through DirectX 10.1, something we’ve already seen with GSC Gameworld’s S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Clear Sky.  Earlier this month, Ubisoft released Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. to strong reviews, and next week will see the release of EA’s BattleForge and SEGA’s Stormrise.  All three games make use of DirectX 10.1 and from our early looks, offer up either higher frames-per-second performance, better image quality or both compared to being played on DirectX 10 hardware.  Definitely check them out.

Apart from all of the new games coming out, this month also plays host to the annual Game Developer Conference, giving developers a chance to show off new previews of forthcoming games.  For AMD and a lot of other companies, Game Developer Conference, or GDC as it’s more commonly known, is a chance to tackle the pressing issues facing game makers today.  The conference takes place this week in San Francisco, and interestingly I think we’re about to see another industry inflection point, one that once-and-for-all looks to knock down proprietary hardware barriers, and focus on standards-based approaches to game development.  All game developers are looking for ways to make the most of their development resources – taking advantage of industry standards is a big part of that.  While I can’t giveaway all our news just yet, it’s safe to say that AMD will be a key contributor to that conversation this week.

As a bit of a preview, if you’ll be at GDC and you’re planning the sessions you’d like to attend, definitely make sure to get this one on your calendar for next Thursday, March 26.  Game physics once again returns to the spotlight at GDC as I’ll be joined on stage by OTOY’s Jules Urbach to explore standards-based game physics using OpenCL and ATI Stream technology, and the developer implications of server-side rendering using AMD Fusion Render Cloud.  As a bonus, AMD’s Ward Tisdale will talk about how AMD is working with developers to make games accessible and educational through our “Changing the Game” program.  Lastly, if you’re a Richard Huddy fan – and let’s face it, who isn’t? – join us at GamesBeat 2009 right around the corner on Tuesday to hear about the future of gaming hardware.  Info on the 4 p.m. session can be found here.

Between a glut of fantastic DirectX 10.1 games, and the renewed emphasis on standards-based approaches to game development, hopefully you’ll agree with me that there’s a lot more change in the air this March than just the weather.

Neal Robison is Director, ISV Relationship Management at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.