AMD CEO: The Next Challenge Is Energy Efficiency

Post by CodesInChaos » Wed, Feb 22, 2023, 3:07 PM UTC

moonchild wrote: post #134

cookiengineer wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly I don't understand why there's not something like a 256 core ARM laptop with 4TB RAM. The benefit of ARM is scale of multitasking due to not requiring the same kind of lock states that Intel's architecture requires, and can additionally scale much better than only one physical+virtual core pair. I guess the only thing that's holding back ARM is Microsoft, as laptops are expected to run an desktop OS that peo…

> The benefit of ARM is scale of multitasking due to not requiring the same kind of lock states that Intel's architecture requires I have no idea what you mean by this. The only x86 feature I can think of that might qualify as a 'lock state' is a bus lock that happens when an atomic read-modify-write operation is split over two cache lines. That has a very simple solution ('don't do that'--you have no reason to), and…

Post by PeterisP » Wed, Feb 22, 2023, 3:19 PM UTC

Taek wrote: post #241

madmax96 wrote: post #225

This is not a completely hashed-out thought. But I'll share it and see what others think. My impression is that the simplest way to improve energy efficiency is to simplify hardware. Silicon is spent isolating software, etc. Time is spent copying data from kernel space to user space. Shift the burden of correctness to compilers, and use proof-carrying code to convince OSes a binary is safe. Let hardware continue mana…

I like this idea, and given today's technology it feels like something that could be accomplished and rolled out in the next 30 years. If the compiler (like rust) can prove that OOB memory is never accessed, the hardware/kernel/etc don't need to check at all anymore. And your proof technology isn't even that scary: just compile the code yourself. If you trust the compiler and the compiler doesn't complain, you can as…

Post by AshamedCaptain » Wed, Feb 22, 2023, 3:25 PM UTC

jeffparsons wrote: post #164

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Put another way: if AMD (and especially Intel) don't do something about this they're going to get completely eaten alive by ARM. AMD’s latest parts are actually quite close to M1/M2 in computing efficiency when clocked down to more conservative power targets. They crank the power consumption of their desktop CPUs deep into the diminishing returns region because benchmarks sell desktop chips. You can go into the BIO…

I care a lot about idle power, even on my desktop PC. It seems crazy to me that in 2023 I still need to consider whether maybe I should shut down my computer when I'm not using it. What should I be buying to not have to ask myself that question?

Post by anoother » Wed, Feb 22, 2023, 3:30 PM UTC

6510 wrote: post #207

rektide wrote: post #32

AMD has done extremely well with multi-chip(let) modules. Zen cores & zen clusters (on Core Chiplet Die, CCD) are wonderfully small, and a huge amount of the regular stuff cores do is relegated to the IO Die (CCX), which is not as cutting edge. But wow there's a bunch of power burned on interconnect between CCDs and CCX. And now AMD's new southbridge, Promontory 21, made by Asmedia, is another pretty significant powe…

To me the most impressive part is what incredible job they did in the years of intel dominance. They almost bulldozered themselves.

Post by marcosdumay » Wed, Feb 22, 2023, 3:36 PM UTC

myself248 wrote: post #14

vlovich123 wrote: post #7

When I was an undergrad, one of my professors was exploring “approximate” computation (forget what it was technically called). The gist was that you build mathematical circuitry that approximates an answer instead of giving you a concrete answer (kinda like floating point but also applied to Boolean algebra, integer math etc). The reasoning was that the approximation could let you reduce the power. I wonder where tha…

"Fuzzy logic" was the "AI" hype buzzword of the 90s.