Qualcomm demonstrates 24-core ARM server SoC

Page 3 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

imported_ats

Senior member
Mar 21, 2008
422
63
86
I don't know what popcnt is, so there's no way I would know that. Why do you expect me to know that?

Cause you are asking about instructions being added on request and popcnt is one of the more famous examples(hint: a certain TLA really really really likes it).
 

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,414
8,356
126
Obviously if I knew that I wouldn't need to ask.

No idea what TLA is either.
 

NTMBK

Lifer
Nov 14, 2011
10,208
4,940
136
Obviously if I knew that I wouldn't need to ask.

No idea what TLA is either.

Three Letter Agency.

POPCNT is an instruction which counts the number of bits set in a register. Supposedly it's very useful for cryptography (IDK, not a crypto expert).
 

Exophase

Diamond Member
Apr 19, 2012
4,439
9
81
sometime yes, sometimes no. How do you think things like PopCnt get into designs?

Population count is a fairly common instruction in other ISAs, not exactly an esoteric instruction that only serves the needs of a very specific customer. It is, for example, generally useful enough to warrant a GCC builtin. Not as useful as clz and friends, but still pretty useful.

Now I'm not saying that Intel doesn't take input from its customers when deciding on new instructions but that's hardly the same as spinning up custom variations of their CPUs just for those customers, where only they get sold these CPUs with privately available new instructions. popcnt is obviously no example of this.
 

imported_ats

Senior member
Mar 21, 2008
422
63
86
Population count is a fairly common instruction in other ISAs, not exactly an esoteric instruction that only serves the needs of a very specific customer. It is, for example, generally useful enough to warrant a GCC builtin. Not as useful as clz and friends, but still pretty useful.

POPCNT is in ISAs for 1 client and 1 client alone. Yes it has general use cases, but it is 1 client that got it put into all those ISAs.

Now I'm not saying that Intel doesn't take input from its customers when deciding on new instructions but that's hardly the same as spinning up custom variations of their CPUs just for those customers, where only they get sold these CPUs with privately available new instructions. popcnt is obviously no example of this.

Of course, but then again, no one is getting a real custom server CPU made for them either, despite all the ARM hoopla.
 
Mar 10, 2006
11,715
2,012
126
According to Charlie @ S|A, the Qualcomm chip has a dual channel memory controller -- not a hex-channel one.

It would seem to me that Qualcomm is building what amounts to a Xeon D competitor.
 

ShintaiDK

Lifer
Apr 22, 2012
20,378
145
106
According to Charlie @ S|A, the Qualcomm chip has a dual channel memory controller -- not a hex-channel one.

It would seem to me that Qualcomm is building what amounts to a Xeon D competitor.

With twice the pins o_O

If its not 6 channel is gets awfully awkward for Qualcomm to explain it.
 

Exophase

Diamond Member
Apr 19, 2012
4,439
9
81
POPCNT is in ISAs for 1 client and 1 client alone. Yes it has general use cases, but it is 1 client that got it put into all those ISAs.

Even if the NSA got popcnt added to Cray supercomputers in the 70s (something that AFAIK isn't confirmed) that hardly means that that's the only reason any other ISAs ever added it. Especially the ones that would be of zero interest to the NSA.

Even Donald Knuth's academic ISA MMIX has an instruction that's a more generalized form of popcnt. Kind of hard to connect that to the NSA.
 

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
11,144
32
91
Just read this in The Economist, it seems relevant to this thread discussion:

Qualcomm, the world’s biggest maker of semiconductors for smartphones, formed a joint venture with the government of mountainous Guizhou province in China. The company, of which Qualcomm owns 45%, will make chips for servers—a market dominated by Intel but which Qualcomm is eager to crack. China, for its part, is determined to build a domestic semiconductor industry.
 

Headfoot

Diamond Member
Feb 28, 2008
4,444
641
126
Taking the Chinese and Russian (and other similar) markets based on NSA-backlash fear mongering could be huge. I know China and Russia are looking for any plausible excuse to stop buying American chips after the NSA thing went wide
 

NTMBK

Lifer
Nov 14, 2011
10,208
4,940
136
Taking the Chinese and Russian (and other similar) markets based on NSA-backlash fear mongering could be huge. I know China and Russia are looking for any plausible excuse to stop buying American chips after the NSA thing went wide

...Qualcomm are American.
 

bryanW1995

Lifer
May 22, 2007
11,144
32
91
...Qualcomm are American.

Yeah, they're just trying to build up their own semiconductor industry from scratch. That will at least make a tiny bit more difficult for the NSA to hack their computers in the future. Of course, I have a feeling that they're going to be distracted for the next few years dealing with their stumbling economy and bubbling social unrest...and it's notable that this is not an Agreement with the National Government but rather a regional entity.