AMD's next-generation stream processor, the FireStream 9250
breaks the one teraflop barrier for single precision
performance.
Occuping a single PCI slot, power consumption is specified at
less than 150 watts. There is 1Gbyte of GDDR3 memory on-chip.
The stream processor includes a second-generation double-precision
floating point hardware implementation delivering more than 200
gigaflops, building on the capabilities of the earlier FireStream
9170.
Adding a notably open-systems flavour,
AMD
is publishing interfaces for its high-level language API,
intermediate language, and instruction set architecture. The Stream
SDK’s Brook+ front-end is available as open source code.
“An open industry standard programming specification will help
drive broad-based support for stream computing technology in
mainstream applications,” said Rick Bergman, senior v-p and general
manager, Graphics Product Group, AMD, speaking during the
International Supercomputing Conference in Dresden.
The processor firm has also joined the Khronos Compute Working
Group. This working group’s goals include developing industry
standards for data parallel programming and working with proposed
specifications like OpenCL. The OpenCL specification can help
provide developers with an easy path to development across multiple
platforms.
“We believe that OpenCL is a step in the right direction and we
fully support this effort. AMD intends to ensure that the AMD
Stream SDK rapidly evolves to comply with open industry standards
as they emerge,” said Bergman.
AMD plans to deliver the FireStream 9250 and the supporting SDK in
Q3 2008 at around $999.
See also:
Electronics
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