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? on the power of a GPU

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cottonball   03-12-2007 at 07:01:59 PM

Hello,

I've read on several places how graphics cards are much more powerful then your cpu. With that said why don't they just harness the power of a 2nd or 3rd one to help or even replace a CPU?

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Simonetti   03-12-2007 at 07:11:22 PM
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the CPU is a general-purpose processign unit, whereas a GPU does have a specific purpose.

also the way the GPU handles incoming data is way different from the way a CPU handles instructions and data.

I believe that nv and ati are working on GPGPUS (general purpose GPUs).

The GPUs are much more powerful in the sense that they do have many more flops than a CPU, but computing power is not only about flops.

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JonathanDeane   03-12-2007 at 08:06:36 PM
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I think eventualy they will have physics built into graphics cards and in a sense this would help offload alot of work from the CPU. With that said I often wonder who will have the better physics.... ATI or Nvidia ? the dark horse Intel ?

How long before I get my OS to have physics built into it so I can bump windows out of the way with other windows.... lol I think that will be the next path for UI's :P

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Heyyou27   03-12-2007 at 08:20:24 PM
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The Geforce 8800 series are supposed to be able to do more general purpose calculations, and Nvidia claims they support high quality GPU physics.

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JonathanDeane   03-12-2007 at 10:41:21 PM
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I know I want one soooo bad (will be my first Nvidia product I believe)
I guess personaly just holding off on it untill ATI releases what ever its going to release.... With my luck I buy the Nvidia 8800, wich no matter what would rock but the ATI one could rock even harder ! A real nail biter !


So in a sense any GPU already offloads work from the CPU ? I guess the OP just wanted to know if more work will be done in the future. I would guess that yes they will and to some extent they already are. I remember when doing vertexes was all the rage so the CPU would not have to do geometry or something *shrugs* in the future GPU's and CPU's will both be doing more !

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Silver Graphics badge TheGreatGrapeApe   03-13-2007 at 02:13:39 AM
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Quote :

Hello,

I've read on several places how graphics cards are much more powerful then your cpu. With that said why don't they just harness the power of a 2nd or 3rd one to help or even replace a CPU?



Main issue is X86-X64 extensiosn.

The VPUs have lotsa FP power, but need special workarounds to be useable (can use with a C compiler but can't efficiently run windows).

Eventually CPUs will become more VPU like not vice versa, and then they'll simply change the way computers function as more like a cluster of fast units rather than 2 supporting/competing functional groups.

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