Fused Multiply-Add and HSA

Article: AMD's Analyst Update
By: Richard H. (no-spam-please.delete@this.gmail.com), February 7, 2012 7:29 pm
Room: Moderated Discussions
David Kanter wrote:
"Software that adopts FMA can theoretically double compute performance"

Please explain why. On Intel's processors, a SIMD multiply instruction plus a SIMD add instruction can be completed every clock. I don't understand how a Fused Multiply-Add (FMA) increases peak performance at all compared to what Intel already does (not even counting 128-bit SIMD vs 256-bit SIMD).

I'd like to hear people's opinions about AMD's Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA). I am struggling to understand how it is possible to have an ISA-agnostic interface (therefore needing a Just-In-Time compiler) without paying a big performance penalty. The whole purpose of heterogeneous computing is to get more performance so why would it make sense to use a Just-In-Time compiler?

It seems like the vast majority of software vendors that make use of GPUs for computing only support Nvidia GPUs (for example, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere and Neat Video). What does HSA provide that could change this situation?
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TopicPosted ByDate
Fused Multiply-Add and HSARichard H.2012/02/07 07:29 PM
  Fused Multiply-Add and HSADavid Kanter2012/02/07 11:54 PM
    "CUDA is on its way out"pk2012/02/09 05:37 AM
      "CUDA is on its way out"David Kanter2012/02/09 11:49 AM
        "CUDA is on its way out"Bryan Catanzaro2012/02/09 12:44 PM
          "CUDA is on its way out"David Kanter2012/02/09 05:48 PM
            "CUDA is on its way out"Anon2012/02/09 07:11 PM
              "CUDA is on its way out"David Kanter2012/02/10 12:00 AM
                "CUDA is on its way out"Michael S2012/02/10 04:54 AM
                "CUDA is on its way out"Anon2012/02/10 06:42 PM
                  Proprietary SW interfaces and hardware vendorsDavid Kanter2012/02/10 09:07 PM
                    Proprietary SW interfaces and hardware vendorsAnon2012/02/11 04:08 AM
                      Proprietary SW interfaces and hardware vendorsAnon2012/02/11 04:12 AM
                      Proprietary SW interfaces and hardware vendorsDel2012/02/11 08:39 AM
                  "CUDA is on its way out"Del2012/02/11 08:33 AM
                "NVIDIA is on its way out"Brendan2012/02/10 10:42 PM
                  "NVIDIA is on its way out"anonymous2012/02/11 11:37 AM
              "CUDA is on its way out"Del2012/02/11 08:22 AM
                "CUDA is on its way out"Anon2012/02/11 04:11 PM
                  ispc on GPUsMatt Pharr2012/02/12 10:02 AM
                    ispc on GPUsAnon2012/02/13 03:34 PM
          "CUDA is on its way out"Erwin Coumans2012/02/09 09:39 PM
            "CUDA is on its way out"Brett2012/02/10 12:54 PM
              "CUDA is on its way out"David Kanter2012/02/10 04:00 PM
              "CUDA is on its way out"Anon2012/02/10 06:45 PM
                "CUDA is on its way out"Brett2012/02/10 08:20 PM
                  "CUDA is on its way out"David Kanter2012/02/10 08:58 PM
                    "CUDA is on its way out"Brett2012/02/11 07:15 AM
                      Macroscalarnone2012/02/11 08:40 AM
        "CUDA is on its way out"Anon2012/02/10 06:39 PM
          "CUDA is on its way out"David Kanter2012/02/10 09:19 PM
            "CUDA is on its way out"Anon2012/02/11 04:33 AM
          "CUDA is on its way out"NN2012/02/14 04:24 PM
            "CUDA is on its way out"Anon2012/02/15 04:16 PM
        "CUDA is on its way out"bakaneko2012/02/11 05:31 AM
      "CUDA is on its way out"Aaron Spink2012/02/10 12:29 AM
  Fused Multiply-Add and HSAEduardoS2012/02/08 03:11 PM
    Fused Multiply-Add and HSAFoo_2012/02/09 06:24 AM
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