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AMD Unveils E9170 Embedded GPU (zdnet.com)

AMD is releasing a new embedded Radeon GPU, the first to be based on the Polaris architecture. From a report: But this one isn't aimed at the desktop or laptop markets, but instead it expands AMD's offerings in the digital casino games, thin clients, medical displays, retail and digital signage, and industrial systems markets. The AMD Embedded Radeon E9173 GPU, based on the Polaris architecture, uses an optimized 14-nanometer FinFET manufacturing process to provide up to three times the performance-per-watt over previous generations of AMD Embedded GPUs. And the Radeon E9170 is quite a powerhouse, delivering up to 1.25 TFLOPS at sub-40W TDP board power, and includes 4K HEVC/H.265 and AVC/H.264 decode and encode support, 4K and 3D support, and is capable of driving up to five 4K displays using HDMI 2.0 and/or DisplayPort 1.4. AMD is planning for the Radeon E9173 to have a long lifecycle -- which high-end customers demand -- and plans for it to be available through to 2024.

49 comments

  1. DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 0

    DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? like you really want windows on BSOD when you win big?

    1. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Malfunctions void all pays and plays. So yes. Casinos do want a BSOD if you win big.

    2. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by TheZeitgeist · · Score: 1

      See ATM machines in Safe Mode all the time, on XP kernels still. So casino games seem like natural frontier here actually.

    3. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by H3lldr0p · · Score: 1

      Have you been to a casino recently? All the spinner games have updated to video interfaces and touch displays with frankly dizzying array of oversaturated color and graphics so busy it's hard to keep track of everything going on. But that's all on purpose. To part you from your money.

      There's a reason why all the big game publishers have switched to crapifying their games with lootboxes and other gambling-lite features. They're all trying to get the same payday that casinos have had for years but are instead targeting the one group that casinos can't, legally, for now. Just wait a couple more months and that might change. Then everyone will be on equal footing.

      It's sickening that nothing is being done about it.

    4. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ATI runs Linux.

    5. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Malfunctions void all pays and plays." Until the lawsuit.

    6. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ATI

      Welcome to 2017. I have bad news.

    7. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what we need is a gamers union. A mafia-like organization, that will have muscle to beat the crap out of stupid casino.

    8. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by gman003 · · Score: 1

      A hell of a lot of bad news, actually. Maybe save the ATI acquisition for later.

    9. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      many of them are already Windows embedded devices, people just don't notice, windows crashes no more frequently than Linux or any other OS in those situations. DirectX 12 is actually a huge benefit in these scenarios as well as it abstracts a lot of the complexity which developers in the app space frequently fuck up.

    10. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by LostMyBeaver · · Score: 1

      I told my kids a long time a go that as soon as I see a game with gambling in it (even loot boxes), it's off their computers. I have made the exception for Overwatch because unlike LoL and a few others, the loot boxes seem to have no impact on the actual game play, only appearance. So in that case the rule is "no money on loot boxes".

      In the case of WoW, when we played it, it wasn't so bad because you could choose what you wanted and buy it. So, I would sometimes buy a pet if there was a campaign where the proceeds would be donated to a charity.

      I explain to the kids that gambling is for people who lack the intelligence to understand that when you give someone money, they should give you something of that value in return. There shouldn't be odds or luck attached to financial exchanges. It would be like going to your boss and saying...hey let's spin a wheel each month and see how much you should pay me!

    11. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I recently (less than 6 months ago) saw one rebooting OS/2.

    12. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why people keep using the 'ATM machine' phrase?

    13. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by jawtheshark · · Score: 1

      Excuse my ignorance, but what is a "lootbox"?

      --
      Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
    14. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do people keep pointing it out when everyone already knows it's "wrong"?

    15. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe it has something to do encountering a box with random contents inside, and you have to use real money to purchase a one-use key to unlock it. There may be a chance for an ultra rare item, or a handful of common items you could have easily acquired with in-game currency.

      This comic seems to have an interesting take on such things from Team Fortress 2.

    16. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you are okay with your kids playing violent video games but draw the line at anything that even resembles gambling? You must be Christian.

      You're also a sanctimonious idiot.

    17. Re:DirectX 12 support Digital casino games????? by jawtheshark · · Score: 1

      I have a hard time understanding why you would even want this as a gamer. The odds are so much against you... Thank you for explaining.

      --
      Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
  2. What about the PSP? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Must be nice to have a factory built-in backdoor into sooooo many casino games.

    1. Re:What about the PSP? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      What about the PlayStation Portable?

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re: What about the PSP? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In Soviet Russia, casino games backdoor you!

  3. Embedded? by Carewolf · · Score: 2

    Without Linux drivers? Hah...

    1. Re:Embedded? by TeknoHog · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Without Linux drivers? Hah...

      What? AMD's opensource driver framework is actually better performing than their closed Linux drivers (although the opensource version currently lacks fancier features such as OpenCL 2.0 and Vulkan). You install it the same way we used to do with most regular GPU drivers back in the day: select the appropriate part in vanilla kernel config, and then install the specific X/Mesa packages. Well, there's the firmware bit too, but in any case there's no need to reinstall anything upon kernel updates. I.e. no worrying about the latest kernel breaking the binary driver.

      Example: https://www.phoronix.com/scan....

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    2. Re:Embedded? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What makes you think AMD will not bring out Linux drivers for this GPU?

  4. What perf like vs laptop/desktop? by Khyber · · Score: 1

    1.25 TFLOPs in sub 40-watt? Last I checked Radeon Duo was like 250w and 11.45TFLOPs. Unless the performance per power matches or beats the Duo, this is kinda shit for an embedded solution - not like embedded solutions weren't generally shit to begin with.

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    1. Re:What perf like vs laptop/desktop? by Osgeld · · Score: 1

      its made for kiosks and gambling machines etc, not for your laptop to play modern warfare on

    2. Re:What perf like vs laptop/desktop? by EndlessNameless · · Score: 1

      They are totally separate markets, and this is a huge upgrade over the last generation (1.25 TFLOP vs 768 GFLOP)---in the same power envelope.

      And, yes, the embedded GPUs are more efficient. AMD always pushes their desktop parts to maximum frequency/voltage to compete with NVIDIA in that market. They don't do that for embedded products because power/cooling matters more than absolute performance.

      With most Polaris GPUs, you can reduce power consumption by 20-30% with only a 5-10% performance hit. Not sure about Vega, but I assume it's the same.

      --

      ---
      According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
    3. Re:What perf like vs laptop/desktop? by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      1.25 TFLOPs in sub 40-watt? Last I checked Radeon Duo was like 250w and 11.45TFLOPs

      Last I checked, the Radeon Duo wont run on passive cooling and costs a fuckton of money.

      Getting the picture yet?

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    4. Re:What perf like vs laptop/desktop? by Khyber · · Score: 1

      A lot of businesses have specific power draw requirements put in place for things like maximum power draw, etc. to prevent excessive power bills from always-on equipment.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    5. Re:What perf like vs laptop/desktop? by Khyber · · Score: 1

      Going by perf per watt, the Duo still wins, so one could just underclock/undervolt it, lock down the excess compute units, and probably still outperform the embedded part at the same power envelope.

      Or just use defective Duo dies.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  5. it's up to the gaming board to give an OK by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    it's up to the gaming board to give an OK.

    ATM machines the bank will refund you if they crash and do not pay out.

  6. Music to My Ears by Neuronwelder · · Score: 1

    I'm for anything with high power and low wattage. Congratulations AMD!!! I hope they blaze a path that others follow.

    1. Re:Music to My Ears by Guybrush_T · · Score: 1

      Not really a new path. NVIDIA has the Tegra line for that. It is powering the Nintendo Switch, and other things.

    2. Re:Music to My Ears by Neuronwelder · · Score: 1

      It's my fault. My original post stopped at chips.. I should have included everything from solar cells, to satellites, to light bulbs. (100 watt output with just 12 watts with an LED bulb.) It's a far cry in light output from just a couple of years ago! And cars? The sky is the limit. My hope is that people will see the consumption of power as a precious resource and make awesome stuff that barely consumes it.

    3. Re:Music to My Ears by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm for anything with high power and low wattage

      Now that would be a feat. You mean high performance and low wattage. Basically highly efficient.

      100 watt output with just 12 watts with an LED bulb

      It's not 100 watt output of light. It's output of light equivalent to a 100 watt incandescent bulb.

    4. Re:Music to My Ears by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      100 watt output with just 12 watts with an LED bulb

      That is physically impossible.

  7. They're making video games by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    that you can bet on in an effort to draw in the millennials. Ars Technica had an article on a 4 player pac man machine where you put money in a pot and winner take all (less the casino's cut, of course). Millennials aren't playing slots, which is where all the money really was. Poker/Blackjack/etc don't bring in nearly as much. They're looking for something to replace slots. And a bunch of kids raised on smart phones who know your odds after 6 seconds on google and grew up with 32 bit+ video games aren't impressed by slots.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  8. *With* linux embed driver by DrYak · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually, AMD is one of the few companies that *pays developpers* for an official opensource stack.

    Since quite some time, the opensource stack is the official openGL stack on windows, while the closed source (formely fglrx, now only a user-land GL stack that runs over the same AMDGPU kernel driver) is mainly targetted for the few workstation edge-cases that need some weird quirks for some obscure CAD software.

    Since the AMDGPU kernel driver, part of the code is shared accross platforms, thus new feature added to windows (like Freesync, etc.) can be added to Linux to.

    Since the past couple of weeks, DC/DAL is in the process of being merged upstream, (so Freesync and co should be working out of the box for linux kernel 4.15).

    Since the past couple of weeks, ROCm is also getting merged (so OpenCL should be working for out-of-the box Linux).

    The only currently missing bit, is an official opensource Vulkan implementation by AMD.
    Instead we currently get RADV which is opensource, but developped by outsiders and is getting more and more feature ful by the week, with lots of games working (though currently not with enormous performance gains normally expected of Vulkan - i.e.: the developpers are currently in 'conformance mode', trying to get the API implemented, they'll get to optimisations afterward).
    Notice that, depending on whomever from AMD you ask, they are officially hesitating if they shouldn't perhaps back RADV as an officially supported solution.

    TL;DR: opensource linux drivers by AMD is the normal way to go with Radeon.

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
  9. OpenCL and other fancy by DrYak · · Score: 2

    although the opensource version currently lacks fancier features such as OpenCL 2.0 and Vulkan

    Regarding fancies features :
    - the necessary bits are being upstreamed for ROCm, so you should be getting out-of-the-box OpenCL soonish.
    - DC/DAL is finally getting submitted for upstreaming, so by the time kernel 4.15 you'll get all the features such as Freesync, etc.
    - RADV, though developed, by 3rd parties (not by AMD) is getting rather decent. Conformance is getting good, though authors haven't been started putting lots of effort on optimisation yet.
    - Depending on whom you ask on the forums, AMD might consider giving support to RADV as an intermediate official solution.

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
  10. Yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    AMD announces press release on AMD uninteresting product. Yay?

  11. still waiting by slashmydots · · Score: 1

    Oh good. I'm still waiting for an apology for their last atrocity, the E1 CPU. It's slightly slower than a 1999 model pentium 3 and they tried to run Windows 8 on it.

    1. Re:still waiting by Neo-Rio-101 · · Score: 1

      I blame companies like Lenovo for even trying to use those E1s in bottom-of-the-barrel-budget computers with fat clients like Windows 10, when those CPU's are good for thin clients and very little else. Those damn machines were sold and not even fit for purpose.

      --
      READY.
      PRINT ""+-0
    2. Re:still waiting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bought one of those for my father since he does pretty light computing and thought they would perform like a Atom and holy ****, are they slower than a dead mule. His older 12 year old budget laptop was far faster than that PoS.

  12. 2024 ... by aliquis · · Score: 1

    ... just in time for when the next generation is done :/

  13. And that's probably why I'll buy Intel, NVidia... by LostMyBeaver · · Score: 3, Insightful

    and Matrox.

    If the absolute first item on the list is gambling related, then I see a company that considers preying on the weak as a legitimate means of getting ahead.

    Sure, AMD isn't running the casino itself... maybe not even making the machines. But they believe it's not in poor taste to openly discuss how they will gladly help companies who do run the games or build the machines to abuse weak people.

    Talking about gambling is something you don't do in good company. It's like talking about rape openly. Or child abuse. It's basically something that you DON'T EVER DO and if you do do it, then you take everything you own and sell it, donate the money to the recovery of whomever was harmed and then put a bullet in your head to make sure you never do it again. Gambling and supporting gambling (this includes Wall Street) is a disgusting thing. It takes people who are stupid enough to think they can play the odds and win... all while you sit back knowing that even if the sucker wins a little, it'll just build his confidence up so you can get more from him later. Then you get the really disgusting gambling which screws up peoples retirements and causes them to live in the poor house for years (mutuals, hedges, etc...)

    We don't talk openly about being a gambler, taking money from gamblers, helping to take money from gamblers. This is just filthy.

    AMD... don't you think it's bad enough there's an American president who believes that it's perfectly ok to intentionally prey on the weak? And that it's legitimate to build your wealth by basically stealing money from stupid people? And the belief of "If they're dumb enough to put their money on the table, then it's practically my duty to take it from them."

    Advertising that you support NASDAQ or NYSE etc... I can almost forgive... at least there are some rules there which are supposed to protect people from being preyed upon. But I won't buy for myself or my company any products which openly support casinos or lotteries.

    P.S. - When weak people are preyed upon, while it may be their money, it becomes our burden to support them. I'm no OK with Trump, AMD or anyone else profiting from screwing poor people and making it so that I have to pay for their retirements and welfare.

  14. If you support Intel, Nvidia, AMD, Matrox, etc... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You don't believe in ownership of your own hardware, freedom of thought, modification or expression, and buy into the surveillance state apparatus.

    Quite frankly AMD is shitty. After Polaris I am not buying any more of their hardware (last version with most of the VBIOS unsigned/checksummed/no PSP).

    But Nvidia has been worse about that for years, Intel just added VBIOS signing to its Firmware blob packages, and Matrox hasn't provided any sort of documentation or open source drivers in... 10 to 15 years? (Parhelia brought them back to closed source after a dabbling in the G200-400 era with partially open source drivers), nevermind the abysmal performance of any recent Matrox graphics hardware.

    The only solution at this point is crowdfunding a few generation old patent-avoiding GPU design if people want even marginally open hardware, because everything larger than embedded ARM SoC GPUs now has full-stack firmware signing in use or is too old to even play Vista or XP era videogames on, nevermind supporting GPGPU functionality.