Can OpenGL And OpenCL Overhaul Your Photo Editing Experience?

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In our continuing look at the heterogeneous computing ecosystem, it's time to turn our attention to the photo editing apps currently able to exploit OpenCL- and OpenGL-capable hardware. We interview experts, run benchmarks, and draw some conclusions.

Test Platforms

As in our prior stories, we used the following test configurations:

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Test Hardware
Test System 1
ProcessorAMD FX-8150 (Zambezi): 3.6 GHz, Socket AM3+, 8 MB Shared L3 Cache, Turbo Core enabled, 125 W
MotherboardAsus Crosshair V Formula (Socket AM3+), AMD 990FX/SB950
Memory8 GB (2 x 4 GB) AMD Performance Memory AE34G1609U2 (1600 MT/s, 8-9-8-24)
SSD240 GB Patriot Wildfire SATA 6Gb/s
GraphicsAMD Radeon HD 7970 3 GB
Row 6 - Cell 0 AMD Radeon HD 5870 1 GB
Power SupplyPC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 860 W
Operating SystemWindows 7 Professional, 64-bit
Test System 2
ProcessorAMD A8-3850 (Llano) 2.9 GHz, Socket FM1, 4 MB L2 Cache, 100 W, Radeon HD 6550D Graphics
MotherboardGigabyte A75-UD4H (Socket FM1), AMD A75 FCH
Memory8 GB (2 x 4 GB) AMD Performance Memory AE34G1609U2 (1600 MT/s, 8-9-8-24)
SSD240 GB Patriot Wildfire SATA 6Gb/s
GraphicsAMD Radeon HD 7970 3 GB
Row 15 - Cell 0 AMD Radeon HD 5870 1 GB
Power SupplyPC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 860 W
Operating SystemWindows 7 Professional, 64-bit
Test System 3: Gateway NV55S05u
ProcessorAMD A8-3500M (Llano), 1.5 GHz, Socket FS1, 4 MB L2 Cache, 35 W, Radeon HD 6620G Graphics
MotherboardGateway SJV50-SB
Memory1 x 2 GB Hyundai HMT325S6BFR8C-H9 PC3-10700 (667 MHz), 1 x 4 GB Elpida EBJ41UF8BCS0-DJ-F PC3-10700 (667 MHz)
SSDWestern Digital Scorpio Blue 640 GB, 5400 RPM, 8 MB Cache, SATA 3Gb/s
GraphicsAMD Radeon 6220G Integrated
Operating SystemWindows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit
Test System 4: HP Pavillion dv6
ProcessorIntel Core i5-2410M (Sandy Bridge), 2.3 GHz, Socket G2, 3 MB Shared L3 Cache, 35 W, HD Graphics 3000
MotherboardHewlett-Packard 1658
Memory4 GB (2 x 2 GB) Samsung M471B5773CHS-CH9 PC PC3-10700 (667 MHz)
SSDSeagate Momentus 7200.4 500 GB, 7200 RPM, 16 MB Cache, SATA 3Gb/s
GraphicsIntel HD Graphics 3000
Operating SystemWindows 7 Professional, 64-bit

With luck, we will be adding a new Trinity (next-gen AMD APU)-based notebook to the above heterogeneous compute platforms. Unfortunately, review units weren’t available in time for our testing here.

William Van Winkle
53 Comments Comment from the forums
  • ilysaml
    Now Adobe uses both CUDA and OpenCL that's superb.
    Reply
  • alphaalphaalpha1
    Tahiti is pretty darned fast for compute, especially for the price of the 7900 cards, and if too many applications get proper OpenCL support, then Nvidia might be left behind for a lot of professional GPGPU work if they don't offer similar performance at a similar price point or some other incentive.

    With the 7970 meeting or beating much of the far more expensive Quadro line, Nvidia will have to step up. Maybe a GK114 or a cut-down GK110 will be put into use to counter 7900. I've already seen several forum threads talking about the 7970 being incredible in Maya and some other programs, but since I'm not a GPGPU compute expert, I guess I'm not in the best position to consider this topic on a very advanced level. Would anyone care to comment (or correct me if I made a mistake) about this?
    Reply
  • A Bad Day
    How many CPUs would it take to match the tested GPUs?
    Reply
  • blazorthon
    A Bad DayHow many CPUs would it take to match the tested GPUs?
    That would depend on the CPU.
    Reply
  • esrever
    Would be interesting to compare the i7 ivybridge against trinity in openCL
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1
    why no nvidia cards here?
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1
    any CUDA vs OpenCL benchmarks?
    Reply
  • de5_Roy
    can you test like these combos:
    core i5 + 7970
    core i5 hd4000
    trinity + 7970
    trinity apu
    core i7 + 7970
    and core i7 hd 4000, and compare against fx8150 (or piledriver) + 7970.
    it seemed to me as if the apu bottlenecks the 7970 and the 7970 could work better with an intel i5/i7 cpu on the graphical processing workloads.
    Reply
  • vitornob
    Nvidia cards test please. People needs to know if it's better/faster to go OpenCL or CUDA.
    Reply
  • bgaimur
    vitornobNvidia cards test please. People needs to know if it's better/faster to go OpenCL or CUDA.
    http://www.streamcomputing.eu/blog/2011-06-22/opencl-vs-cuda-misconceptions/

    CUDA is a dying breed.
    Reply