With the recent thread on PPU's (Physics processing units), and the Cell processor, it made me wonder where the hell computing was going.
On the one hand, you have Cell, a massively parallel idea, which can be used in computers, consoles, TV's, you name it.
This is a general purpose processor, obviously, as it has many functions.
You also have CPU's, which are heading towards multi-core/threaded models, where one processor can do many things.
On the other hand, you have GPU's, which are heading to be like CPU's with shader fnctions, but are still specialised cards.
You also have PPU's which are specialised cards, you have sound cards, where dscreet solutions are preferred due to the fact they put less strain on the aforementioned CPU, and hardware encryption for server platforms, as I read in one thread, to take the load off the CPU's in a multi-chip server (think 8 CPU's here), because it's faster.
So where the hell are computers going? Are we heading towards jack of all trades, where we have a CPU which does everything, or are we heading towards seperate components for specialist taks, or will both co-exist?
Will we have multi core/threaded CPU's supported by specialist hardware, in which case why bother with multi-threaded CPU's at all?
General purpose:
+ Economic (only need to get one CPU/whatever)
+ Can be used for almost anything
- Slower at almost everything
- Possibly redundancy (ie: not being used to anywhere near full capacity, so lots of waste)
(also a plus point, as you would have spare power)
Task specific:
+ Fast
+ Only get what you need
- Expensive
- Possibly more complicated (for developers, especially to try and support multiple systems where only some may have specific parts)
On the one hand, you have Cell, a massively parallel idea, which can be used in computers, consoles, TV's, you name it.
This is a general purpose processor, obviously, as it has many functions.
You also have CPU's, which are heading towards multi-core/threaded models, where one processor can do many things.
On the other hand, you have GPU's, which are heading to be like CPU's with shader fnctions, but are still specialised cards.
You also have PPU's which are specialised cards, you have sound cards, where dscreet solutions are preferred due to the fact they put less strain on the aforementioned CPU, and hardware encryption for server platforms, as I read in one thread, to take the load off the CPU's in a multi-chip server (think 8 CPU's here), because it's faster.
So where the hell are computers going? Are we heading towards jack of all trades, where we have a CPU which does everything, or are we heading towards seperate components for specialist taks, or will both co-exist?
Will we have multi core/threaded CPU's supported by specialist hardware, in which case why bother with multi-threaded CPU's at all?
General purpose:
+ Economic (only need to get one CPU/whatever)
+ Can be used for almost anything
- Slower at almost everything
- Possibly redundancy (ie: not being used to anywhere near full capacity, so lots of waste)
(also a plus point, as you would have spare power)
Task specific:
+ Fast
+ Only get what you need
- Expensive
- Possibly more complicated (for developers, especially to try and support multiple systems where only some may have specific parts)
