Intel Releases A Boatload Of Haswell Documentation

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Intel Releases A Boatload Of Haswell Documentation

As an extra holiday present for Linux and open-source fans, Intel has quietly released a large batch of new programming documentation that covers their latest-generation Haswell graphics cores. The new "programmer's reference manuals" cover the 2013 Haswell HD Graphics, Iris Graphics, and Iris Pro Graphics. This massive batch of documentation is spread across twelve volumes and does document their hardware registers...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=MTU1NTc

[curaga]

Excellent! I checked out the perf counter doc, and it's indeed complete enough for proper profiling.

AMD take note, Intel just surpassed you. I only skimmed the video accel doc, but it too seemed quite complete. I think this is the first GPU doc where those two were documented.

[Figueiredo]

Are intel's drivers really that much better after DPM and UVD landing on radeon? Obviously those have not yet been fully incorporated in a stable fashion for mainstream users on mainstream distros, but considering the hardware advantage AMD's APUs (GPU wise) have over intel's, I wonder which one would come out in top, performance wise.

A mesa/gallium APU benchmark of intel x amd would be lovely, maybe after kaveri comes out, in two weeks time. cheers!

[DanL]

Are intel's drivers really that much better after DPM and UVD landing on radeon?

A very pertinent question and one that can't be completely measured by automatic PTS benchmarking. For that matter, can older Nvidia GPU's running nouveau compete in non-gaming usage cases now that they have better VDPAU support? When I get some more time, I really want to test out nouveau on my 8400GS (2nd gen with G98 chip).

[Ericg]

Are intel's drivers really that much better after DPM and UVD landing on radeon? Obviously those have not yet been fully incorporated in a stable fashion for mainstream users on mainstream distros, but considering the hardware advantage AMD's APUs (GPU wise) have over intel's, I wonder which one would come out in top, performance wise.

A mesa/gallium APU benchmark of intel x amd would be lovely, maybe after kaveri comes out, in two weeks time. cheers!

Wait until Broadwell comes out, then re-ask that question. Saw an Intel ad that said Broadwell would do for the graphics what Haswell did for the battery. And while I'm sceptical, I'm certainly interested and they definitely caught my attention. If they can get a good enough upgrade where even light and moderate gaming is possible on Intel Integrated, and Nvidia and AMD is only needed for the really hard, really detailed stuff... Damn. Just 'damn.'

But, we'll see.

[Figueiredo]

Wait until Broadwell comes out, then re-ask that question. Saw an Intel ad that said Broadwell would do for the graphics what Haswell did for the battery. And while I'm sceptical, I'm certainly interested and they definitely caught my attention. If they can get a good enough upgrade where even light and moderate gaming is possible on Intel Integrated, and Nvidia and AMD is only needed for the really hard, really detailed stuff... Damn. Just 'damn.'

But, we'll see.

It will be really interesting to see how broadwell turns out. I don't remember when it is suposed to come out, but I guess it will still take around 6 months or more. Another point on broadwell is that there are several rumors that it will be BGA only, with no socket SKUs and all SKUs will be <28W if my memory doesn't fail me. Obviously these are only rumors...

Either way, as you already noted, each generation discrete graphics are becoming more and more a niche thing. I wonder if it there will be a case for producing discrete graphics in 5 or 10 years in the furture if the current consumer processors already have more silicon/TDP dedicated to the GPU than to the CPU. To me the reduced latency and HSA may very well justify the performance lost due to the thermal constrain of having both chips on the same die. The last big bottleneck being the memory bandwith of CPUs which are reduced compared to highend GPUs. But that will eventually be solved by something like Iris' L4 cache, TSV or really fast memory soldered onto the motherboard such as PS4's GDDR5.

Back to my original question, what I found somewhat surprising is that Michael states that the Intel mesa driver is unquestionably superior to R600g or radeonsi. While this has been the overall perception, with the latest massive improvements being done to amd gallium drivers, I'm not that sure it is such a clear picture anymore. Thus, open source driver benchmarks of intel x amd apus should be really interesting.

[devius]

Back to my original question, what I found somewhat surprising is that Michael states that the Intel mesa driver is unquestionably superior to R600g or radeonsi. While this has been the overall perception, with the latest massive improvements being done to amd gallium drivers, I'm not that sure it is such a clear picture anymore. Thus, open source driver benchmarks of intel x amd apus should be really interesting.

That's also something I'd like to see. However, keep in mind that even if an AMD APU has similar (or better) GPU performance than a similarly priced Intel part (comparing only the open-source drivers), the Intel APU is still going to have better CPU performance and consume a lot less power overall. This last aspect is very important to some people. It may also have better, and easier to setup, video acceleration.

[tga.d]

Another point on broadwell is that there are several rumors that it will be BGA only, with no socket SKUs...

Not a chance. They'd basically be giving away the entire server market.

[stiiixy]

Yeah, it's been pretty subjective the whole Intel/AMD+GPU thing. Depending on your task and budget, you have a wealth (dearth?) of options rom both camps and they all delivered power Power power! SAVINGS! Consumer wins all round! And it's only getting better as they open up to the kind-hearted generous OSS world

[mikkl]

Wait until Broadwell comes out, then re-ask that question. Saw an Intel ad that said Broadwell would do for the graphics what Haswell did for the battery. And while I'm sceptical, I'm certainly interested and they definitely caught my attention. If they can get a good enough upgrade where even light and moderate gaming is possible on Intel Integrated, and Nvidia and AMD is only needed for the really hard, really detailed stuff... Damn. Just 'damn.'

But, we'll see.

Do you refer to Phoronix driver news for Broadwell?

Another point on broadwell is that there are several rumors that it will be BGA only, with no socket SKUs and all SKUs will be <28W if my memory doesn't fail me. Obviously these are only rumors...

Broadwell is supposed to come for socket as well: Xeon E3 v4, Broadwell-K for consumer


For mobile there are also mobile parts with 47W.