Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/48986
Embedded Graphics Processors Killing off IGPs A ccording to Jon Peddie Research (JPR), in 2011, with the full-scale production of scalar X86 CPUs with powerful multi-core, SIMD graphics processing elements, a true infl ection point occurred in the PC and related industries. As a result, the ubiquitous and stal- wart integrated graphics processor (IGP) is fading out of existence. For several reasons, many people believed (and some hoped) that the CPU and the GPU would never be integrated: GPUs are characterized by a high level of complexity, with power and cooling demands, and dramati- cally different memory management needs; GPU design cycles are faster than those of the CPU; the GPU has grown in complexity compared to the CPU, exceeding the transistor count, and matching or exceeding the die size of the CPU; and the x86 has steadily increased in complexity and power consumption, and become multi-core. With four times the number of transistors possible in the same space as the previous manufacturing node, Moore's Law seems unstoppable. With the move to 32nm, and now 28nm, the possibilities for integration of such complex and alien functionality is not only possible and feasible, but a reality. Jon Peddie, president of JPR, notes a new trend impact- ing discrete GPUs due to the combination of devices being offered with integrated graphics (IGPs, EPGs, and HPUs). "The integrated processors will impact GPU sales and change traditional sales patterns. The trend may even put the category in decline—at least so some believe," he says, "but it's not that simple. Nothing in the PC industry is." The EPG/HPU will revolutionize the PC and associated industries. The amount of computation capability available in the size, weight, and power consumption of systems with EPG/HPUs, coupled with the attractive prices they will carry, will upset the market dynamics like never before, and maybe not since the introduction of the PC. Further details are available in "The Market Dynamics Created by the Embedded Graphics Processors Study" from JPR. Windows-32 / Windows-64 / OS X-32 / OS X-64 32-bit only $399 High Performance Camera Tracking Use SynthEyes for animated critter insertion, fixing shaky shots, virtual set extensions, making 3D movies, architectural previews, accident reconstruction, virtual product placement, face and body capture, and more. Includes Stereoscopic features used in AVATAR December 2011/January 2012 9