Larrabee (GPU)

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 This article contains information about scheduled or expected future computer chips.
It may contain preliminary or speculative information, and may not reflect the final specification of the product.

Larrabee is the codename for a discrete graphics processing unit (GPU) chip that Intel is developing as a revolutionary successor to its current line of graphics accelerators. The video card containing Larrabee is expected to compete with the GeForce and Radeon lines of video cards from NVIDIA and AMD/ATI respectively. Intel plans to have engineering samples of Larrabee ready by the end of 2008, with public release in late 2009 or 2010.[1]

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[edit] Differences with current GPUs

Larrabee will differ from other GPUs currently on the market such as the GeForce 8 Series and the Radeon 2/3000 series in that it will use a derivative of the x86 instruction set for its shader cores instead of a custom graphics-oriented instruction set, and is thus expected to be more flexible. In addition to traditional 3D graphics for games, Larrabee is also being designed explicitly for general purpose GPU (GPGPU) or stream processing tasks: for example, to perform ray tracing or physics processing,[2] in real time for games or perhaps offline as a component of a supercomputer.[3]

[edit] Preliminary specifications

Most of the public information about Larrabee comes from a presentation made by Intel on March 7, 2006 and posted on the web, but later redacted to purge Larrabee information. According to this presentation, Larrabee will run at 1.7-2.5 GHz and feature 16-24 in-order cores (as opposed to out-of-order cores) each running a modified x86 instruction set, in addition to texture sampling units and other hardware typical of graphics processors.

Also according to the public Intel presentation, Larrabee will be available on a PCI Express 2.0 card, will initially be fabricated on a 45 nm process, and will have a TDP greater than 150 W, possibly as high as 300 W [1]. Larrabee will probably also be available in a server-oriented version which will sit directly in motherboard sockets using Intel's QuickPath interconnect, competitor to AMD's HyperTransport; this may open the possibility of creating a Larrabee-only computer without a companion traditional x86 processor such as the Core 2 Duo.[4]

Larrabee was previously expected in early 2009; the current release expectation of late 2009 or 2010 may mean that the above specs should be revised upwards, to better compete with AMD and NVIDIA chips expected in that timeframe. For example, the first Larrabee GPU may be fabricated on a 32 nm process.[5]

Jon Stokes of Ars Technica has suggested that Larrabee's microarchitecture may be based on the Pentium MMX (while also making it quite clear that such a comparison is almost meaningless).[6]

[edit] Previous Intel GPUs

Larrabee will not be Intel's first discrete GPU. In the late 1990s, Intel subsidiary Real3D created an AGP and PCI graphics accelerator, the Intel740. However, Intel's participation in the graphics hardware market has subsequently been limited to integrated graphics chips under the Intel GMA brand. Although the low cost and power consumption of Intel GMA chips make them ideal for small laptops and less demanding tasks, including general office activities such as word processing, they lack the 3D graphics processing power to compete with NVIDIA and AMD/ATI for a share of the high-end gaming computer market or a place in popular home games consoles, which Larrabee aims to have.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Larrabee: Samples in Late 08, Products in 2H09/1H10. Beyond3D (Wednesday 16th January 2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-17.
  2. ^ Stokes, Jon (September 17, 2007). Intel picks up gaming physics engine for forthcoming GPU product. Ars Technica. Retrieved on 2007-09-17.
  3. ^ Stokes, Jon (April 26, 2007). Clearing up the confusion over Intel's Larrabee. Ars Technica. Retrieved on 2007-06-01.
  4. ^ Stokes, Jon (June 04, 2007). Clearing up the confusion over Intel's Larrabee, part II. Retrieved on 2008-01-16.
  5. ^ Stokes, Jon (January 17, 2008). Larrabee becomes Laterbee: first Intel GPU not due until 2010. Ars Technica. Retrieved on 2008-01-17.
  6. ^ Stokes, Jon (June 29, 2007). Intel's next GPU to be Pentium MMX based?. Ars Technica. Retrieved on 2007-06-29.

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