Revenge of Cell, the DPU Rises *spawn*

In that thread you're saying the graphics is part of the Southbridge, the unexplained extra chip in PS4. And then something about it being the extra compute for use in physics and stuff.

You're saying the "High Performance Bus and Memory Controller" in that block diagram includes a DPU that does video encoding?

 

Well, I'm out.

 

Why invent new terms? AMD calls it an APU meaning multiple processor types on one die.

 

Maybe he likes the D instead of the A.

 

onQ, I tried to read this thread yesterday, and found no meaning.
Then I thought - I'm tired, lets try tomorrow - same result.

Asserting that the graphic has embedded something like VCE is... meh. No comment.
It looks like you read things here and there, and then glue them up the best you can without really understanding the technologies you are talking about (cadence making a GNB... yeeeaaah...)

Dont take it bad but... go to study, practice, and come back with something that at least makes sense.

 

I think he's nicely trying to say that no one can make sense of your utter bullshit.

 

Can't read the whole thread, waiting for my flight. So sorry if this is already said:
Adding custom hardware only makes sense if the hardware is active (or potentially active) 100% of the time and doesn't get bottlenecked by another part of the system (eg, memory). For example, audio processing fits this criteria, so does decompression.
However the usage case in the first post makes absolutely no sense as doesn't fit either requirement.
It is a fixed time operation that is latency critical - but only occurs at 8ms intervals.. To add custom silicon that (say) processed an image in 0.1ms would mean it would be active less than 1% of the time - which would make it a spectacular waste of silicon.
Given it is *very* likely to be bandwidth bound already further reduces the point, as it will be bottlenecked elsewhere. You'd be adding silicon that simply moves already pipelined alu work off the main CUs - but will still severely impact the gpu by saturating bandwidth. A theoretical case where the gpu is stuffed with heavy alu work in theory could be faster, but it's so marginal it's totally pointless.
Absolute waste of engineering and resources imo.

 

So the DPU is actually the GNB. And the GNB is Starsha as described here:
http://www.nowgamer.com/amd-suing-ex-employees-involved-with-ps4-xbox-720-wii-u/

So your theory is that PS4 includes a mini GPU as its memory controller. Which can be used for physics and stuff additionally to Liverpool and the 18 CUs. Is this mini GPU a DPU that can process audio and video, or does it contain a DPU?

 

That's not what Starsha is. Starsha is a GPU+NB+other stuff (APU without CPU). It's described as having pixel pipes and texture units and Shader Model 5 support.

You are quoting them in support of your view, therefore you must agree with it. Furthermore, that was theorising a rumour in 2013 before the clear explanations of the hardware as detailed in the thread you quoted. The theory you had of there being extra processing power for OS is absolutely wrong given what we've since confirmed.

A Graphics North Bridge is an all-on-one solution for PCs with a discrete CPU, merging North Bridge functions with the GPU on a single chip instead of separate GPU and NB chips. The GNB functions are rolled into the full APU in the case of the consoles. Liverpool consists of 8 Jag cores and a GNB. Inside the GNB is the NB and 18 CUs and memory controllers and other aspects like video coding. There's no 'Starsha' inside there, and Starsha cannot be a DPU because it's an AMD GNB consisting of AMD GPU and other pieces.

 

I'm not sure if this thread is genius trolling or hopelessly misguided. Whatever it is is not that funny though.

 

"Starsha, Starsha Starsha!" :<

 

I commend all users being patient with onQ. The guy might end up learning a thing or two afterall.