Engineer 'builds a GPU from scratch' in two weeks
tomshardware.comIsn't a GPU with no rasterization or texture hardware a DSP?
Not a GPU for sure. Not really a DSP either.
I would call it an array processor.
Yeah, this is a "GPU" in the sense that it resembles modern GPUs with the graphics parts sliced off. So it's an understandable shorthand to use, but it is a bit misleading.
Terminology on this is confusing - NVIDIA calls their A100 a "GPU" for example but I can't tell if any of the graphics bits like samplers and ROPs are even in that thing - though I did learn it has a hardware JPEG decoder.
I know it (the A100) at least has the texture pipeline too, so it's certainly got more "Graphics" optimized parts than this.
Really nomenclature is a mess, everyone hops on the next big term until you're not sure what it means anymore.
GPU as a term lost meaning when it changed to Generative Processing Unit from General Processing Unit some time in the last couple years.
And no, GPGPU is a bloody stupid term.
I thought GPU stood for Graphics Processing Unit. Is this not the case?
It used to. Some time in the mid 2010s it changed to General Processing Unit, driven by things like PhysX, crowdsourced protein crunching efforts like Folding@Home, and particularly the cryptocurrency mining boom.
Now we're in the 2020s and GPUs are all about being Generative Processing Units thanks to the "AI" craze.
I don't think that is the prevailing sentiment. GPU still means Graphics Processing Unit to me and most tech people I know. I think it's more just in the folding and crypto communities that people have repurposed the initialism.
But I have still used GPUs as graphics processing units for game and little else this entire time as has everyone I know. Who decided on this nonclemature change? Because it certainly doesnt represent the primary use case...
> Who decided on this nonclemature change?
No one; it's just something Dalewyn is making up.
First time I hear this. Given how you are being down voted, I'm probably not the only one.
Downvotes mean little, arguably even moreso than Reddit. I've noticed I've garnered a dedicated downvote squad who tend to make the rounds once or twice a day.
But that aside: Surely you've heard of GPGPU (General Purpose Graphics Processing Unit), a term I again call bloody stupid. Just call it a General Processing Unit in that case. More recently, the amount of money changing hands in furious bids for more Generative Processing Units to fuel the "AI" craze absolutely dwarves actual graphical applications and even the general use cases.
I'm merely calling the bird that quacks like a duck a duck, not a swan duck bird.
This was a correct use of downvotes. You posted something as truth that you seemingly just made up.
The "truth", for what that's worth, is that GPUs haven't been about graphics as a primary concern for quite a while now and the terminology hasn't kept pace.
Besides, we're apparently here talking about GPUs that can't do graphics.
I think the confusion is between the nature of the acronyms, GPUs are Graphic Processing Units as a hardware concept, GPGPU is a software concept to use GPUs for general processing.
If the primary use case of Graphics Processing Units no longer concern graphics per se, would it not be prudent to rename them to something more appropriate?
Personally, if we could use a new acronym all together I would prefer to just call them PPUs: Parallel Processing Units. That way we won't ever have to rename them ever again as the sands of time shift onwards.
Dalewyn simply posted a substantial truth in imprecise terms. Some interpreted it fixated with its literality - which was irrelevant.
A search for the use of 'Generative Processing Unit' can reveal that the expression may be far from widespread. Nonetheless, GPUs today are importantly that. Explicit adoption of that expression matters little in this context - it is not the point. In fact, I initially misread the text in the post as "General Processing Unit", and it still made sense.
...Usual exhausting snipers. No wonder the whole world is going to hell. Is any relevant vandal also thinking of a reply? Because the impression left is that you have something like "feelings to express". Which remains as collectively constructive as performance dance in your closet.
Feel free to link to one academic paper or news article that uses this term. Google couldn't find one, perhaps you can.
This reminds me of the software engineer who built his own GPU: https://www.furygpu.com/about
I have met this guy, Adam, in person at Founders Inc. He's super smart!
tangentially, TIL that VS Code has Verilog extensions:
Is this a plug for kagi? People who don't use kagi can't see the results. Just link to the extensions.
Oh, nope, didn’t realize it was like that. Thanks for catching that.
Just the search terms suffice, too late to edit though so response here
Super useful work. Thank you!