Apple may drop NVIDIA for Sandy Bridge's IGP next year

[the8thark]

Apple may drop NVIDIA for Sandy Bridge's IGP next year
Apple may drop NVIDIA for Sandy Bridge's IGP next year

 

[iggibar]

I won't comment on whether or not I like this move because it seems not a single person seems to know whether or not any benchmarks are reliable for telling if this is a good move, but I would be all in more a shift to ATi. I'm getting a bit tired of nvidia. There are benchmarks that claim that the intel graphics on it are up to 3 times faster than the 320m. Now you know why no one believes the benchmarks.

 

[the8thark]

more a shift to ATi

AMD*
ATi don't exist anymore. They were renamed to AMD.

 

[CrimsonRequiem]

AMD*
ATi don't exist anymore. They were renamed to AMD.

ATi+AMD = AMD.

 

[chscag]

The Intel claims may be a bit overstated, but the truth is that the CPU on chip graphics speed that's achieved is faster. How much? Well, you have to believe Intel for that. And there is also rumor that the new AMD X86 CPU with on board graphics is even faster.

 

[iggibar]

It might very well be "AMD" now, but it's still ATi to everyone who's referencing ATi graphics. Look on current graphics forums...you know what I mean.

 

[the8thark]

ATi+AMD = AMD.

It seems you are only partially correct. All of the GPU's were rebranded to AMD. But I just read this.

AMD Brings ATI Brand Back from the Dead
AMD Brings ATI Brand Back from the Dead - Softpedia

So it seems AMD are now bringing the ATI brand back from the dead.

 

[schweb]

AMD*
ATi don't exist anymore. They were renamed to AMD.

They weren't renamed, they were bought.

I won't comment on whether or not I like this move because it seems not a single person seems to know whether or not any benchmarks are reliable for telling if this is a good move, but I would be all in more a shift to ATi. I'm getting a bit tired of nvidia. There are benchmarks that claim that the intel graphics on it are up to 3 times faster than the 320m. Now you know why no one believes the benchmarks.

This is only a replacement for Apple's low-end mobile platforms like the 13" Macbook which already has a pretty crappy graphics card. This is only going to slightly improve the performance and probably battery life.

For people who care about graphics performance, this is irrelevant as Apple isn't going to use this for their better machines, at least not any time soon.

And Intel's benchmarks may be faster, who knows, but the end story is it doesn't matter for Macs since Intel's GPU's don't support OpenCL (and even this "SandyBridge" crap will only support OpenCL if the instructions are processed by the CPU, not the GPU which pointless)

 

[iggibar]

AMD Brings ATI Brand Back from the Dead
AMD Brings ATI Brand Back from the Dead - Softpedia

So it seems AMD are now bringing the ATI brand back from the dead.

Oh...maybe be that's why people are still referring to them as ATi...looks like I might have gotten it partially wrong.

For people who care about graphics performance, this is irrelevant as Apple isn't going to use this for their better machines, at least not any time soon.

And Intel's benchmarks may be faster, who knows, but the end story is it doesn't matter for Macs since Intel's GPU's don't support OpenCL (and even this "SandyBridge" crap will only support OpenCL if the instructions are processed by the CPU, not the GPU which pointless)

Intel actually did a press speech stating that OpenCL will indeed be supported by the new intel gpu.
I know that most people don't buy the low end macs for graphics, but in my experience, the only time I EVER use the 9600mGT is to play Call of Duty. which is about less than 1% of the time. The 9400 seems to be able to do everything I need just fine. I guess what I'm saying is, the 9400 isn't bad, the 320 is way better than the 9400, and if the new Intel GPU is up to 3 times faster than the 320(assuming benchmarks are remotely correct), then we really don't have anything to worry about because it will be contributing to better graphics, as well as better battery life. The 9600 is still great for me...lol

Here's a link that talks about their work.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20023505-64.html

I take everything with a grain of salt...

 

[schweb]

Intel actually did a press speech stating that OpenCL will indeed be supported by the new intel gpu.

But it's not true support.

Current Intel GPUs don't support OpenCL at all, the new one will "support" OpenCL but only if the instructions are processed by the CPU, not the GPU like most higher-end graphics in the better machines.

So yes, it will support it, but it's not true hardware support.

Here is a much better article:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/12/apple-may-drop-nvidia-for-sandy-bridges-igp-next-year.ars

In addition, Intel reportedly plans to support OpenCL on Sandy Bridge, in a roundabout way. Apple has embraced OpenCL by integrating support in to Mac OS X 10.6, and using NVIDIA controllers in its lower-end systems meant that all of Apple's shipping computers were compatible with the standard. The basic architecture of Intel's Sandy Bridge IGP can't support OpenCL functions at all—it's based on an archaic, specialized design that doesn't do GPGPU and will be replaced in Ivy Bridge later in 2011. But, Intel has been working on supporting OpenCL on its CPUs—with four simultaneous threads available on dual-core chips, it may be possible to execute OpenCL code acceptably fast on the CPU itself.

 

[the8thark]

And intel really need to make something OpenCL compatible. And do it fast. Cause having your chips bought by apple en mass is very good for business.

 

[schweb]

And intel really need to make something OpenCL compatible. And do it fast. Cause having your chips bought by apple en mass is very good for business.

Supposedly that's coming with "Ivy Bridge" in late 2011.

But honestly, I can't ever see Intel being a serious player in the video space unless they buy someone.

 

[vansmith]

They'll be serious in the low end market. Computers that are designed to do nothing remotely intensive in terms of graphics (machines built for people who, at most, will power two monitors and have that as sophisticated as it gets in terms of graphics) will probably continue to use Intel graphics.

And there's always people like me who couldn't care less what graphics hardware is in their machine. If it powers an external monitor at the max resolution, it could be hardware from five years ago for all I care. This is where Intel can situate itself - computer graphics hardware for people who don't care.

 

[timpane]

I think it appears not a lone individual appears to understand if or not any benchmarks are dependable for telling if this is a good proceed, but I would be all in more a move to ATi. I'm getting a bit exhausted of nvidia. There are benchmarks that assertion that the intel graphics on it are up to 3 times much quicker than the 320m.

 

[iggibar]

I still don't get why Apple doesn't tap into the other great cards available from Nvidia like the 2XX-4XX GTX, or 5XXX series from ATi, I'm actually getting kind of tired of a 1,100 dollar computer that has g.c. that would destroy the best 330m with 512mb or memory. Come on apple, get with the program, and stop fiddling around with this crap from Intel!

I wish Apple had the twins to go all out, for once, on their "REAL" MBP line, not the lame 13" mbp, but the 15"-17", and actually offer a good graphics card. We already get 8-10 hours of life out of them, I would shave a couple hours off that to get gc setup worthy of the name "Pro".

Did they trap themselves in a corner with the mbp's slim design?
I would love for the GTX 480M SLI to at least be an option on the 15"/17" mbp.

 

[DarkestRitual]

I saw that article too, but there is no word from Intel yet on whether or not the new IGPs will actually be OpenCL compatible, just that they will be *capable.* I think this is just another report on the aftermath of Apple turning up the heat on NVIDIA and Intel to resolve their dispute. Intel will have to improve their IGPs immensely for Apple to consider using them again, I think, except maybe in the low end MacBook line, maybe. Besides, with the new NVIDIA IGPs coming out paired with core i series processors, Intel will have to REALLY kick it up a notch to compete. Apple doesn't mess around.

 

[schweb]

I saw that article too, but there is no word from Intel yet on whether or not the new IGPs will actually be OpenCL compatible, just that they will be *capable.*

It's already been clarified. Read the Ars article I linked.

 

[DarkestRitual]

I guess if you call that clarified. Seems to have just added more mud to the water, if you ask me.

 

[schweb]

I guess if you call that clarified. Seems to have just added more mud to the water, if you ask me.

There's not a lot of mud added...seems pretty clear to me. The GPU itself won't support OpenCL, the OpenCL instructions will be executed by the CPU.

What's not clear?

 

[DarkestRitual]

What's not clear? The subject of the thread? Whether or not Apple will stick with NVIDIA? What the settlement means for Apple? Whether Apple will accept Intel's half assed approach to open CL?