Is it fair to call the "CELL" a GPU/CPU?

[skilzygw]

The more I read about what it is and what it excells at. It sort of remiinds me of the things GPU's are now doing well for example transcoding on the new ati gpu which blows past the cpu.

So is it fair to say this is the cpu for anyone who ever said, why doesn't Nvidia or ATI make a cpu. Or a gpu multipuporse enought to run an os.

Just random ramblings from my mind. I'm bored at work!

 

[London Geezer]

The more I read about what it is and what it excells at. It sort of remiinds me of the things GPU's are now doing well for example transcoding on the new ati gpu which blows past the cpu.

So is it fair to say this is the cpu for anyone who ever said, why doesn't Nvidia or ATI make a cpu. Or a gpu multipuporse enought to run an os.

Just random ramblings from my mind. I'm bored at work!

For one, making a CPU takes a lot more resources (R&D, funds etc) than a GPU, which is relatively "easy" to make, compared to decent CPUs.

 

[bobthebub]

For one, making a CPU takes a lot more resources (R&D, funds etc) than a GPU, which is relatively "easy" to make, compared to decent CPUs.

I can accept that a CPU is more difficult to make than a GPU, although I would expect they are getting closer in complexity and they have long since exceed CPU's in size which is an issue in itself, but if they could be considered "easy" (which I would take to mean you or I couldn't make one but a well funded chip design house could) why have Intel never really managed to grab hold of the market?

 

[London Geezer]

I can accept that a CPU is more difficult to make than a GPU, although I would expect they are getting closer in complexity and they have long since exceed CPU's in size which is an issue in itself, but if they could be considered "easy" (which I would take to mean you or I couldn't make one but a well funded chip design house could) why have Intel never really managed to grab hold of the market?

Oh they've grabbed alright. I'm quite sure the integrated Intel graphics solutions are to be found in a lot more computers than either ATI or NVIDIA's "proper" GPUs.

Different targets i guess, but Intel sure as hell makes lots of money from their graphics solutions, without having to worry about releasing a new top of the line GPU every 6 months to compete with ATI and NVIDIA. Can't blame them to be honest, somtimes i fail to see the point in ATI and NVIDIA's business choices, those top of the line GPUs we all dream about sell in the tens of thousands worldwide - hardly a huge number.

 

[archie4oz]

It sort of remiinds me of the things GPU's are now doing well for example transcoding on the new ati gpu which blows past the cpu.

I'm not even so sure they even do this.... The only tests I've seen is against WME and WME isn't exactly the fastest (or highest quality encoder)...

 

[Megadrive1988]

from what I understand Cell is not a GPU because it does not have hardware dedicated to 3D rasterization. everything is done in software. Cell does not really have any pixel processors or backend rendering units (ROPs) like a real GPU has. so I would not call Cell a CPU/GPU.


too bad we probably will not see the Cell-based GPU that Sony was working on, that was a GPU-Cell hybrid.