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NVIDIA future GPU is VOLTA and gets on-chip DRAM
Posted by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 03/20/2013 08:40 AM | 20 comment(s) ]
NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang shared a handful of details about the company's next-generation graphics chips. Early next year we can expect Maxwell, the successor to Kepler. This chip will introduce unified virtual memory, which means the GPU will be able to see the contents of the system memory, and vice versa. One of the benefits of this is that it will make programming the GPU easier, which should come in handy for GPGPU applications.
Maxwell will be succeeded by Volta, which includes more memory innovations. Instead of relying solely on off-chip memory, the Volta GPU will share its silicon substrate with DRAM. This on-chip memory will be stacked vertically, and it will purportedly offer substantially higher bandwidth than what's available via an external interface. Huang says the integrated memory will boast a whopping 1TB/s of bandwidth—more than three times what's offered by the GeForce Titan. Huang didn't provide a timeline for Volta's release, but I wouldn't expect it before 2016. Nvidia has a history of debuting new GPU architectures every two years, with Fermi arriving in 2010, Kepler coming last year, and Maxwell scheduled for next year.
NVIDIA future GPU is VOLTA and gets on-chip DRAM
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Yxskaft
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#4558290 Posted on: 03/20/2013 01:17 PM
Maxwell early 2014 sounds nice. If it were late 2014, I might be tempted to wait for Volta instead. Of course I'll see what AMD has to offer as well before deciding though
Maxwell early 2014 sounds nice. If it were late 2014, I might be tempted to wait for Volta instead. Of course I'll see what AMD has to offer as well before deciding though
h0d
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#4558335 Posted on: 03/20/2013 02:17 PM
I'm sure Volta can have more than 3 times faster bandwidth than the Titan. It seems they intentionally slowed their cards improvement to sell more of them.
Anyway nice new feature, can't wait to see the real impact of this new architecture.
I'm sure Volta can have more than 3 times faster bandwidth than the Titan. It seems they intentionally slowed their cards improvement to sell more of them.
Anyway nice new feature, can't wait to see the real impact of this new architecture.
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#4558347 Posted on: 03/20/2013 02:32 PM
So then the dram will be stacked on the die then? Will there be different memory to accompy it like gddr5?
So then the dram will be stacked on the die then? Will there be different memory to accompy it like gddr5?
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#4558352 Posted on: 03/20/2013 02:37 PM
DRAM on chip might sound good, but exactly how much are they talking about? The performance GPU's are already at 3GB, so they have say, 4GB. Will that on-chip memory be the full 4GB, or just say, 512MB? It kind of sounds like large cacheing memory to me, where the commonly used stuff is in the 512MB cache and data is transferred from the remaining memory as required. This is of course a complete guess, as I doubt they could do 4GB on chip. It's not just about space, it's about the heat. You have all the heat from the GPU transferring through the memory and vice versa, and the room to get rid of this heat is still a similar size to currently what is available for the GPU to get rid of heat now. You also have to consider that currently there is a quite a large surface area for the RAM to get rid of heat.
The unified memory is what AMD is going towards too (apparently), but no doubt they'll implement a not-dissimilar memory cache too. I'm not sure exactly how unified the unified memory principle will be, wouldn't the programs have to be compiled specifically for this? The heterogeneous architecture AMD are heading towards with their CPU's etc is a little different, the principle sounds more efficient. That said, having that coupled with a graphics card of similar principle would probably be advantageous.
DRAM on chip might sound good, but exactly how much are they talking about? The performance GPU's are already at 3GB, so they have say, 4GB. Will that on-chip memory be the full 4GB, or just say, 512MB? It kind of sounds like large cacheing memory to me, where the commonly used stuff is in the 512MB cache and data is transferred from the remaining memory as required. This is of course a complete guess, as I doubt they could do 4GB on chip. It's not just about space, it's about the heat. You have all the heat from the GPU transferring through the memory and vice versa, and the room to get rid of this heat is still a similar size to currently what is available for the GPU to get rid of heat now. You also have to consider that currently there is a quite a large surface area for the RAM to get rid of heat.
The unified memory is what AMD is going towards too (apparently), but no doubt they'll implement a not-dissimilar memory cache too. I'm not sure exactly how unified the unified memory principle will be, wouldn't the programs have to be compiled specifically for this? The heterogeneous architecture AMD are heading towards with their CPU's etc is a little different, the principle sounds more efficient. That said, having that coupled with a graphics card of similar principle would probably be advantageous.
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#4558366 Posted on: 03/20/2013 03:03 PM
Was waiting for Maxwell to arrive when I my GTX480 (850/1700/2000 @1.1v)
But I bit the dust and went team red with the HD7970 and dont see the point in Maxwell now, Volta is very interesting though this might just be the upgrade that us graphics buffs have been waiting for.
I think Maxwell will be very strong indeed and will outperform my HD7970 by around 50% but still what games will use it? Crysis 3 looks outstanding now and runs pretty damn well maxed out my single HD7970 with 4xMSAA @ 1080p so there are going to have to be some seriously damanding games that will make use of Maxwell or even the next AMD architecture but I think GCN being as good as it is we will just get a revision of it with the 8K series at the end of year.
Also with PS4 being already outdated by current high end PC hardware I see no games truly using Maxwell's potential.
Was waiting for Maxwell to arrive when I my GTX480 (850/1700/2000 @1.1v)
But I bit the dust and went team red with the HD7970 and dont see the point in Maxwell now, Volta is very interesting though this might just be the upgrade that us graphics buffs have been waiting for.
I think Maxwell will be very strong indeed and will outperform my HD7970 by around 50% but still what games will use it? Crysis 3 looks outstanding now and runs pretty damn well maxed out my single HD7970 with 4xMSAA @ 1080p so there are going to have to be some seriously damanding games that will make use of Maxwell or even the next AMD architecture but I think GCN being as good as it is we will just get a revision of it with the 8K series at the end of year.
Also with PS4 being already outdated by current high end PC hardware I see no games truly using Maxwell's potential.
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#4558397 Posted on: 03/20/2013 03:42 PM
Well, you could try triple-monitor gaming with the same AA level and see if your card would choke or not.
I think Maxwell will be very strong indeed and will outperform my HD7970 by around 50% but still what games will use it? Crysis 3 looks outstanding now and runs pretty damn well maxed out my single HD7970 with 4xMSAA @ 1080p
Well, you could try triple-monitor gaming with the same AA level and see if your card would choke or not.
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#4558399 Posted on: 03/20/2013 03:45 PM
Maxwell was supposed to be another push into efficiency so I don't think there will a huge performance gain there. It seems like Volta is the one that is going to push for performance more.
Maxwell was supposed to be another push into efficiency so I don't think there will a huge performance gain there. It seems like Volta is the one that is going to push for performance more.
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#4558466 Posted on: 03/20/2013 05:25 PM
I think Maxwell will be very strong indeed and will outperform my HD7970 by around 50% but still what games will use it? Crysis 3 looks outstanding now and runs pretty damn well maxed out my single HD7970 with 4xMSAA @ 1080p so there are going to have to be some seriously damanding games that will make use of Maxwell or even the next AMD architecture but I think GCN being as good as it is we will just get a revision of it with the 8K series at the end of year.
Also with PS4 being already outdated by current high end PC hardware I see no games truly using Maxwell's potential.
I've had similar thoughts, but at least I have a better "excuse" to upgrade than you(need to update my specs here, using a HD 5770 for the time being). Am not counting on playing the next-gen games with this, at least not smoothly.
I'm hoping even a mid-range Maxwell/VI GPU will be enough for handling the console ports at high settings for some years(I want the "next 8800GT"), and then I'll upgrade again when/if the PC versions start getting more attention.
I'll also be surprised if we don't get DX12 in 2014.
I think Maxwell will be very strong indeed and will outperform my HD7970 by around 50% but still what games will use it? Crysis 3 looks outstanding now and runs pretty damn well maxed out my single HD7970 with 4xMSAA @ 1080p so there are going to have to be some seriously damanding games that will make use of Maxwell or even the next AMD architecture but I think GCN being as good as it is we will just get a revision of it with the 8K series at the end of year.
Also with PS4 being already outdated by current high end PC hardware I see no games truly using Maxwell's potential.
I've had similar thoughts, but at least I have a better "excuse" to upgrade than you(need to update my specs here, using a HD 5770 for the time being). Am not counting on playing the next-gen games with this, at least not smoothly.
I'm hoping even a mid-range Maxwell/VI GPU will be enough for handling the console ports at high settings for some years(I want the "next 8800GT"), and then I'll upgrade again when/if the PC versions start getting more attention.
I'll also be surprised if we don't get DX12 in 2014.
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#4558479 Posted on: 03/20/2013 05:43 PM
It is not going to happen until 2016 if it ever happens.
It is not going to happen until 2016 if it ever happens.
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#4558587 Posted on: 03/20/2013 08:14 PM
Thats how xbox 360 devs can get 4x FSAA working (yep, Full Screen Anti Aliasing, something unthinkable if you just check its GPU specs alone), they process the frame on the eDRAM, since its super high bandwidth and super low latency memory, the operation is pretty much free. If im not mistaken, I read they tile the frame in 4 or more since while 10Mb is enough to hold a full HD frame, it isn't enough for holding the frame and storing additional data for the AA pass, so divide an conquer. And still its fast enough to get playable framerates on a 8 year old console
Imagine if you could get 4x FSAA (or more!) with little to no fps impact playing at 1080p (or more?). It would be awesome.
DRAM on chip might sound good, but exactly how much are they talking about? The performance GPU's are already at 3GB, so they have say, 4GB. Will that on-chip memory be the full 4GB, or just say, 512MB?
They don't need huge amounts of eDRAM (or whatever they use), if they can hold up a couple of frames at high resolution it will be enough (say, 64Mb or 128Mb).
Thats how xbox 360 devs can get 4x FSAA working (yep, Full Screen Anti Aliasing, something unthinkable if you just check its GPU specs alone), they process the frame on the eDRAM, since its super high bandwidth and super low latency memory, the operation is pretty much free. If im not mistaken, I read they tile the frame in 4 or more since while 10Mb is enough to hold a full HD frame, it isn't enough for holding the frame and storing additional data for the AA pass, so divide an conquer. And still its fast enough to get playable framerates on a 8 year old console
Imagine if you could get 4x FSAA (or more!) with little to no fps impact playing at 1080p (or more?). It would be awesome.
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#4558611 Posted on: 03/20/2013 08:49 PM
He's about to take off!
He's about to take off!
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#4558617 Posted on: 03/20/2013 08:56 PM
Well, you could try triple-monitor gaming with the same AA level and see if your card would choke or not.
1. you dont need any form of AA at those resolutions.
2. I hate triple monitor gaming
Now if 4K monitors become cheaper and games natively support the res then yes I could see a use for these chips.
I've had similar thoughts, but at least I have a better "excuse" to upgrade than you(need to update my specs here, using a HD 5770 for the time being). Am not counting on playing the next-gen games with this, at least not smoothly.
I'm hoping even a mid-range Maxwell/VI GPU will be enough for handling the console ports at high settings for some years(I want the "next 8800GT"), and then I'll upgrade again when/if the PC versions start getting more attention.
I'll also be surprised if we don't get DX12 in 2014.
I completely agree with you, for people on current mid to low range cards or last gen hardware then sure grab one of these as it would be a better value upgrade for you.
Also DX12 I don't think will come any time soon. DX11 needs a few more updates and fixes and maybe some performance improvements. Tessellation is only just starting to be used more and if used to much it cripples even the high end cards.
He's about to take off!
To infinity and beyond!!!!!!
Well, you could try triple-monitor gaming with the same AA level and see if your card would choke or not.
1. you dont need any form of AA at those resolutions.
2. I hate triple monitor gaming
Now if 4K monitors become cheaper and games natively support the res then yes I could see a use for these chips.
I've had similar thoughts, but at least I have a better "excuse" to upgrade than you(need to update my specs here, using a HD 5770 for the time being). Am not counting on playing the next-gen games with this, at least not smoothly.
I'm hoping even a mid-range Maxwell/VI GPU will be enough for handling the console ports at high settings for some years(I want the "next 8800GT"), and then I'll upgrade again when/if the PC versions start getting more attention.
I'll also be surprised if we don't get DX12 in 2014.
I completely agree with you, for people on current mid to low range cards or last gen hardware then sure grab one of these as it would be a better value upgrade for you.
Also DX12 I don't think will come any time soon. DX11 needs a few more updates and fixes and maybe some performance improvements. Tessellation is only just starting to be used more and if used to much it cripples even the high end cards.
He's about to take off!
To infinity and beyond!!!!!!
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#4558625 Posted on: 03/20/2013 09:06 PM
Rofl
Rofl
---TK---
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#4558636 Posted on: 03/20/2013 09:24 PM
gimme some maxwell action
gimme some maxwell action
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I misread "DRAM" as "DRM" and had a little shock to the system for a moment there
Ah nice. Looking forward to seeing what Maxwell can do. This Volta is too far off for me.