I keep hearing about this, seeing mentions and links to github, but I have to ask: where's the "meat"?
It’s Time to Open Up the GPU
51–60 of 95 posts
Re: It’s Time to Open Up the GPU
#52Can we please stop calling it a GPU? These auxiliary processors are used for much more than graphics.
Couldn't we just re-purpose the G in GPU to stand for "general" rather than "graphics"?
Re: It’s Time to Open Up the GPU
#53This is an AMD project motivated by the fact that NVIDIA has become the de facto standard for GPU computation in deep learning and machine learning applications. TensorFlow, Torch, Theano, CNTK, CAFFE, and every other deep learning framework out there works out of the box with NVIDIA hardware via the CUDA stack, but not with AMD hardware, e.g., via the OpenCL stack. Which is a shame, because the entire NVIDIA hardwar…
It's a shame how Nvidia is able to close up the market, there has, traditionally, been great competition between AMD and Nvidia in that space.
Re: It’s Time to Open Up the GPU
#54This is an AMD project motivated by the fact that NVIDIA has become the de facto standard for GPU computation in deep learning and machine learning applications. TensorFlow, Torch, Theano, CNTK, CAFFE, and every other deep learning framework out there works out of the box with NVIDIA hardware via the CUDA stack, but not with AMD hardware, e.g., via the OpenCL stack. Which is a shame, because the entire NVIDIA hardwar…
It's a shame how Nvidia is able to close up the market, there has, traditionally, been great competition between AMD and Nvidia in that space.
Not a shame for game developers. It's nice to have some ability to predict that the failure modes where cards diverge from specification will tend to diverge along the same paths, because they're made by the same vendor.
Granted, it'd be preferable to live in a world where the drivers and hardware are open and inspectable (so you don't have to debug graphics issues as a black-box problem), but we've never lived in that world and between the likelihood of AMD's initiative taking root and a de-facto Nvidia monopoly, I'd rather have the monopoly.
Re: It’s Time to Open Up the GPU
#55Can we please stop calling it a GPU? These auxiliary processors are used for much more than graphics.
Nope. In other news, we still call them "hard drives," even when nothing is driven.
Re: It’s Time to Open Up the GPU
#56This is an AMD project motivated by the fact that NVIDIA has become the de facto standard for GPU computation in deep learning and machine learning applications. TensorFlow, Torch, Theano, CNTK, CAFFE, and every other deep learning framework out there works out of the box with NVIDIA hardware via the CUDA stack, but not with AMD hardware, e.g., via the OpenCL stack. Which is a shame, because the entire NVIDIA hardwar…
It's a shame how Nvidia is able to close up the market, there has, traditionally, been great competition between AMD and Nvidia in that space.
I think it will bite them in the ass the same way glide did for 3dfx. Vulcan/SpirV may end up as the openGL of heterogeneous computing. Nvidia has the momentum at the moment with a focus on GPGPU, but if we can get an open API that leads in performance across vendors for both CPU and GPU we'll see that competition again. We just have to hope that nvidia doesn't nerf their implementation like they did with openCL.
Re: It’s Time to Open Up the GPU
#57This is an AMD project motivated by the fact that NVIDIA has become the de facto standard for GPU computation in deep learning and machine learning applications. TensorFlow, Torch, Theano, CNTK, CAFFE, and every other deep learning framework out there works out of the box with NVIDIA hardware via the CUDA stack, but not with AMD hardware, e.g., via the OpenCL stack. Which is a shame, because the entire NVIDIA hardwar…
I'm sad to say, but it's true. AMD has been claiming "this is the year we really open up" since at least 2007[1]. Well, I'm happy to hear them recommit, but I don't believe them anymore. Now that they are losing ground in the marketplace on the GPU side with deep learning, and their CPUs can't compete with intel on the performance side, their claims ring hollow. Imagine where we would be if they open sourced their dr…
Have you tried the open AMD radeon drivers lately?
Re: It’s Time to Open Up the GPU
#58Can we please stop calling it a GPU? These auxiliary processors are used for much more than graphics.
They are used for other things, but
* They're better at graphics than that other stuff,
* Other auxiliary processors exist which beat GPUs on most kinds of that other stuff (though they aren't as accessible as GPUs),
* Most importantly, what sells GPUs is first and foremost their performance on graphics workloads. A GPU with stellar OpenCL performance but sucky OpenGL performance will be outsold by a huge margin by a GPU with the reverse characteristics.
So they're GPUs alright.
Re: It’s Time to Open Up the GPU
#59First, nullify all the patents ... Seriously, back around the turn of the century I was pretty heavily into graphics and rendering and was frustrated by all the constraints on getting access to documentation. I finally figured out a way to pin down a vendor with all the necessary NDAs and all the necessary agreements so that I could actually get 100% access to the inner workings of the GPU. As long as I read the docu…
Nullify the patents? Why? A lot of R&D has gone into making the best GPU's what they are. What makes you feel entitled to that IP?
He doesn't - it's written in jest. The next sentence starts with 'Seriously, ..'
Re: It’s Time to Open Up the GPU
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm sad to say, but it's true. AMD has been claiming "this is the year we really open up" since at least 2007[1]. Well, I'm happy to hear them recommit, but I don't believe them anymore. Now that they are losing ground in the marketplace on the GPU side with deep learning, and their CPUs can't compete with intel on the performance side, their claims ring hollow. Imagine where we would be if they open sourced their dr…
I don't think they ever claimed they would open source their drivers. They've certainly released a ton of documentation for their GPUs over the years.
And likely all of it had to be vetted by lawyers before being released, to avoid lawsuits from third parties.