Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 11th Dec 2010 18:35 UTC
"Using a GPU for computational workloads is not a new concept. The first work in this area dates back to academic research in 2003, but it took the advent of unified shaders in the DX10 generation for GPU computing to be a plausible future. Around that time, Nvidia and ATI began releasing proprietary compute APIs for their graphics processors, and a number of companies were working on tools to leverage GPUs and other alternative architectures. The landscape back then was incredibly fragmented and almost every option required a proprietary solution - either software, hardware or both. Some of the engineers at Apple looked at the situation and decided that GPU computing had potential - but they wanted a standard API that would let them write code and run on many different hardware platforms. It was clear that Microsoft would eventually create one for Windows (ultimately DirectCompute), but what about Linux, and OS X? Thus an internal project was born, that would eventually become OpenCL."
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Member since:2006-01-04
Yes, OpenCL is really nice. It's really a front-end to many different architectures. You program in OpenCL and it can run on GPU (nvidia and ati), CPU (amdstream), or other kind of processors. No need for porting.
The resulting programs might not be as fast as Nvidia's CUDA (I haven't seen anything proving that though) but at least it can run _everywhere_
RE[2]: not just for gpu's
by Jondice on Sun 12th Dec 2010 19:22
in reply to "RE: not just for gpu's "
Member since:2006-09-20
CUDA platform support on x86
by fran on Sun 12th Dec 2010 19:29
in reply to "RE: not just for gpu's "
Member since:2010-08-06
Interesting. Alot of developments in this area.
Few months ago nvidia also announced its porting of the CUDA platform to x86
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2010/09/nvidia-ports-its-cuda-...
I wonder how the integrated GPU/CPU chips coming out next year (Intel'sandy Bridge and AMD Fusion) is going to affect these developments.
Member since:2006-03-29
Yeah.
Though that does not mean that you should not create different versions for each device(-type), be it by auto-generating code or by hand-crafting it.
E.g. each device has a prefered vector size, using that will make things faster. Further each system has a different amount of local memory etc.
What I find great is that it is relatively easy to write a kernel and with a little amount of time it is quite fast. Only writing the boiler plate code sucks, though the bindings can help there. 
Edited 2010-12-12 21:20 UTC
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
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Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.More Features »
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Member since:
2007-01-13
I'm pleasantly surprised to read the part stating that multi-core cpu's are also targeted by OpenCL.
Sweet!