2/4/8 core cpus, when will the GPUs follow suit?

[TheDarkKnight]

I got two old 17" eMachines monitors I been have hanging on to longer than I should and I was thinking about hooking one up in a dual-display configuration just for the sake of trying it. I have never setup or used a dual-monitor configuration with Windows.

My current CPU is a SandyBridge i3-2105 with HD3000 graphics on the motherboard so I would have to install a second PCIe videocard to get dual-display capabilities.

And so I started asking myself whether or not Intel has any plans to develop CPUs with multiple IGPUs on the chip itself. Im pretty sure people would devour this kind of technology much as they are doing now with multiple cores on CPUs.

Does anybody know if Intel has plans for multiple IGPUs on any future CPU designs...?

 

[moonbogg]

Not likely. Its just not.

 

[cl-scott]

Kind of makes me think of the now defunct Transmetta company that was infamous for hiring Linus of Linux fame. They basically created a CPU that had a programmable instruction set, so it could effectively mimic any type of CPU.

I was thinking how it would be cool to take that idea to the next level, and you just build one giant CPU with dozens or even hundreds of cores, and you can then dynamically allocate them to various functions. So instead of separate chips for north/southbridge chipsets, audio, video, networking, etc, you just have this one massive slab of silicon that has dozens of programmable cores. Granted there are a few technical issues with my idea, but probably nothing that couldn't be overcome with a little effort.

However, to answer your question, I am not personally aware of any such plans, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if it happens. Most people probably don't need much more than a dual core CPU, so you could easily take a 6-core die, and just turn it into a quad core + dual IGP and most people would probably never know the difference. Or even dual core + dual IGP. However, this would require some coordination with motherboard makers who would then need to add a second output port, and then in turn case makers may need to make some of the port holes a little bigger to make room for the second DVI or HDMI port. So, it might be pretty easy for Intel to do it from a technical standpoint, but getting the other pieces all lined up might take some time.

 

[anongineer]

Rather than put multiple IGPU's on chip, it would be easier to just double the number of GPU execution units. AMD and Intel both differentiate their IGPU offerings in this way, among others.

I was thinking how it would be cool to take that idea to the next level, and you just build one giant CPU with dozens or even hundreds of cores, and you can then dynamically allocate them to various functions.

Sounds like Xeon Phi, although getting all manner of I/O into it might be difficult.

I'm waiting for the day when CPU's that are not called Atom come with decently sized FPGA's. Instead of programming cores, just load and unload fixed function blocks. Want to game? Load in a GPU. Want to watch video? Load in a H.264 decode pipeline. Want to fold proteins while away from the computer? Load in an optimized folder block.

 

[RU482]

2 e-machines monitors eh?

 

[birthdaymonkey]

If your motherboard has more than one monitor hookup (many have DVI, HDMI, and VGA or at least two out of those three), then you might be able to connect both displays without needing another video card. However, since you're thinking of using 17" eMachines monitors, I'm guessing they're probably VGA only.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

GPUs are already highly parallel in nature and we can already think of them as having many "cores", and when they are improved upon for future designs they are given more of these "cores"

 

[lamedude]

Even the i810 had 2 pixel pipelines. Your HD Graphics 3000 is a dodeca core GPU (12 EU's).

 

[2is]

Not likely. Its just not.

And why is that? 3rd gen iPad has 4 graphics cores, iPhone 5 has 3. Everything is moving towards SoC, not just mobile devices. It used to be the FPU was a seperate processor, then it became integrated, now we have integrated memory controllers, graphics, various busses. With companies like Apple and Samsung pushing crazy high pixel densities/resolution, and the focus being designing a package that's power efficient, small and light, i'd say "it is likely, it just is"

I'm just wondering... Why is this thread in the motherboard forum???