What would happen if...

[JustAnAverageGuy]

What would happen if for example you were to put a monster heatsink and an extremely fast processor say an AMD Athlon FX-51 or and intel P4 3.2 onto a graphics card?

Assuming that it is physically possible to mount it on the PCB, size was no object, voltage was of no consequence, money was not an issue, and the CPU was designed architecturily to process graphics and to become the highest end GPU possible, and they did exactly as the other does.

Now I'm assuming there are good reasons for that not being implemented simply do the cost of the project, space, etc involved.

2GHZ core clock, 1GHz memory clock etc.

But what would happen if you did turn a CPU into the GPU?

 

[MournSanity]

GPUs != CPUs

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

but if they were

/stupid question

 

[MournSanity]

Originally posted by: JustAnAverageGuy
but if they were

/stupid question

The aren't. GPUs and CPUs are designed to do VERY different things, thereforce you can't just slap an Athlon on a graphics card PCB and expect it to run Doom III at a million FPS because its clock speed is higher.


An analogy would be someone trying to transplant a brain with a heart. It won't work.

 

[CQuinn]

>> but if they were

It would suck, plain and simple.


CPUs are general purpose processors, they can do a lot of things, some things well, other things not so well.

GPUs are specialized processors, they do a lot less than CPUs but what they do, is done better than any
general purpose CPU can keep up with.

Putting an Athlon or P4 on a card as a GPU would be like putting a big-block chevy engine on an ATV.
Sure you would get more power out of it, but it would no longer go where you wanted to be.