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Nvidia Working on a CPU+GPU Combo
Max Romantschuk writes "Nvidia is apparently working on an x86 CPU with integrated graphics. The target market seems to be OEMs, but what other prospects could a solution like this have? Given recent development with projects like Folding@Home's GPU client you can't help but wonder about the possibilities of a CPU with an integrated GPU. Things like video encoding and decoding, audio processing and other applications could benefit a lot from a low latency CPU+GPU combo. What if you could put multiple chips like these in one machine? With AMD+ATI and Intel's own integrated graphics, will basic GPU functionality be integrated in all CPU's eventually? Will dedicated graphics cards become a niche product for enthusiasts and pros, like audio cards already largely have?" The article is from the Inquirer, so a dash of salt might make this more palatable.
System RAM is SLOW compared to GPU RAM.
Huh? All the systems on this lineup use standard PC3200 (DDR400) RAM. Which is the same RAM that you could use as system RAM with many motherboards (e.g. this one). I don't see why the RAM would be faster on the video card than in the main system...?
Also, a GPU inside the CPU would get to benefit from the CPU's cache, which would usually contain any data that had recently been modified by the main redraw thread, thus eliminating the need to go out to get data from that memory. I wouldn't be surprised to see something like a 25% reduction in the amount of memory access the GPU needs to perform.
What you've suggested is already done by low end accelerators like the Intel GMA 950. Works ok, but as I said, slow.
The reason this is slow is (a) that it's an intel GPU, and they've never been any good anyway, and (b) that it has to contend with the CPU for access. If you integrate the two into a single component with an nVidia designed GPU, I don't see any reason it couldn't perform as well as current separate systems do. And cost significantly less, and use less power.