Ok,
I just watched the GTC 2012 key note by nvidia's ceo, an event I have been looking forward too for a while. Unfortunately the stuff I was looking forward too like a "pascal/delphi compiler for cuda" is still not a reality... maybe I will have to try myself somehow with free pascal's llvm support and the new open cuda lvvm compiler... also not a word about cuda 5 that's kinda strange but ok.
However GTC 2012 did have other somewhat exciting and definetly important news. It was quite a surprise to me ! I already saw the "preview of gtx 690" but there was some new stuff at GTC 2012 about this graphics card/chip which could be a big deal/very important for the future:
GPU VIRTUALIZATION !!!
Yup you read that correctly, the GTX 690/Kepler chip can now be virtualized. I do consider virtualization a very important thing for the future to be able to bring/run old computer systems/old hardware/old software on new hardware/software designs. At least until the transition to new hardware/software is complete.
I do wonder how big the impact is of virtualized GPU's on virtualization... perhaps the graphics part of virtualization has always been lacking or not top notch, so perhaps that will change with this new chip and new drivers... it would be cool if multiple operating systems can be installed onto a single computer and then switch between them... especially if those images can later on be transferred to newer computers and hopefully still run somehow ;)
Running windows on "virtual hardware" sounds real nice. Then I could install windows into a virtual machine, install lot's of software, and then buy new hardware, but still keep the old image/windows.
However unfortunately Microsoft is going to throw dirt into this little dream... because Microsoft always wants people to buy new operating systems and new software versions... and will stop supporting older operating systems which leads to security risks/unpatched holes.
I am not sure if windows is the future, or perhaps a version of linux... for now windows 8/metro doesn't seem to be too great, so time will tell ;)
How long before people get fed up with having to reinstall all the time ? I am pretty sure I am already fed up with it... but there is little that can be done about it except switch to something else like linux mint 11 which installs lots of software real fast. Though linux mint 11 does not yet have the quality of windows and might never ever it... time will tell.
Windows 8 does seem to have a new file system/extension for more reliability, it also sounds kinda overheadish but none the less interesting... I except it to be buggy at first so that a bit risky...
Seeing windows 7 (?) run on an ipad (via virtualization) was real funny ! ;) :) and interesting/cool.
The new kepler seems to have lot's of new cores which is nice... the dynamic thing seems nice.
So question which remain:
- How easy is it to clean ? Is it supposed to be cleaned at all ? Unfortunately kepler is probably not for me since I live in dusty environment ;) I consider graphics cards with a fan to be a thing of the past... it's too risky if it gets full with dust and overheats, also having to clean it is also risky...
I myself am more interested in passively cooled graphics cards... so I wonder what the future will bring.
I will probably buy my next computer in the year 2016.
I shall use this little thread to convey some of my ideas and possibilities:
- CPU with cores only, new gpu, to maximize CPU processing power.
- Passively cooled CPU would be cool and handy.
- GPU for raytracing/cuda only. All transisters spent on cuda/raytracing and maybe some physics and away with the old opengl/directx stuff.
- Alternatively a GPU with all transisters spent on fixed function hardware and no cuda.
- Alternatively a mix like it is now. Having these three different products allows people to choose what they want to maximize.
For example:
Maximum CPU processing power. (1 chip)
Maximum GPU opengl/direct processing power. (1 chip)
Maximum GPU cuda processing power. (1 chip)
So then I could buy 3 chips, instead of just 2.
Ofcourse a sound chip from creative labs probably also belongs in this category ;) sort of ;) :)
One little drawback is ofcourse an extra graphics card in the system... but if these were single slot and passively cooled that would be nice... large enough room between the two for some modest airflow.
My next computer will probably be a cheap computer so that I can buy more computers instead of just one big one... so I can update more often and have more computers around...
Some older computers died or are fast becoming obsolete or are already obsolete so replacing those in 2019 and 2012 or so might be nice.
My budget therefore will be about 3000 euros per pc. This includes everything... new screen, new everything... though I might change my mind on a new screen since old one still good, but perhaps I want lower latency... that would be cool and even more clearity... and buying a new one seems smart in case old one dies or so... then again... I might never use the older one... but it's kinda nice to have it as a backup that's for sure.
I do wonder what new stuff cuda 5 will bring... that presentation will be later today, not sure if it will be streamed, probably not... but I have to go sleep now/soon... so I ll have to check that out tomorrow ! ;) :)
I also did some more little bit of benchmarking for cuda gt 520 memory system versus amd x2 3800+ and ram...
It does seem cuda is better for large memory/data applications where all memory has to be processed at the same time... the gt 520 will probably outperform the cpu... which is kinda interesting. Then again the cpu test was only 1 core... so maybe the cpu would still be faster because of dual core... though I have seen some issues with large memory for dual core... that was kinda weird... maybe programming bug or other issue not sure... right now it's probably not a fair comparision since gt 520 is passively cooled and cpu has fan on it... then again comparing 1 cpu core to the gt
520 does sound kinda interesting... but no idea what the watt/heat is for a single core ;) maybe it's just half or so... then would make it kinda fair... and in that case the cuda tech wins...I do believe in the cuda tech but it will need more language support, without good compilers it's going to be though... not everybody is going to want to program in c/c++... more languages will be needed. This is nvidia's biggest problem in my mind right now ;) it's everybody's problem really, writing compilers is hard/lot of work... I hope others will help out and maybe I give it a try too lol :)
Finally I did see some chart about amd/ati cross fire benchmark... it blew the socks of kepler for compute... not sure what that was about... but that was slightly worrieing ;) :)
Time will tell what amd/ati have up their sleave... I think for them it would be more wise to use ptx/cuda as well, even if it's just an alternative... this would make it even more easy to compare hardware... I wonder if amd/ati gpu's can virtualize ? maybe they got flanked by that one ! lol ;) :)
Also the water thing was pretty good looking. And the stars colliding was also pretty cool. I also highly appreciated the event being live streamed, that was cool !
One little weird thing always happens though: windows 7 goes to sleep after
30 or 45 minutes and disrupts it a little bit, and the harddisk goes to sleep and have to wake it up again... this lowered resolution, but I could replay the video to see the gaming thing in somewhat larger resolution so that was also kinda cool/ok.The music at the start was also cool.
It wasn't as exciting as the first gtc 2010 but that's ok... this time it seemed to be a bit more focused on professionals and enterprise/cloud/data centers.
I also learned a new app called: "nuke" apperently it's seem video editor/composition thing... might have to check that out some time ;) :)
I did and didn't like the part about the gaming in the cloud... it's nice if you can afford it... but it's bad for pirates, and maybe ultimately bad for everybody... I do believe piracy has some economic value/stimules and terminating piracy might eventually do more harm than good... so I don't believe terminating piracy is a good thing.
I am somewhat bored with shooters, perhaps 5 years from now people will be bored too and stop playing it... but then again new people get born every day and they probably wanna experience it too, so it will probably go on... it's a bit risky to assume gaming will stay popular... especially if it only focuses on shooters... but then there are also strategy games. For now it's probably a safe bet/ok.
The ultimate graphically challenge would be to remake dune 1 with every grain of sand simulated, every heat vapor simulated, every sun ray emulated, as the sand drips/falls down from the big worms ;) every pory/hole in the human face simulated, the blue shiny eyes of the freeman simulated, the iris of the eyes like a blue earth pearl full of detail. Such a thing is probably still impossible, but what I considered to be probably impossible 15 to almost 20 years ago is now possible ! ;) :) So perhaps in another 5 to 20 years a dune 1 remake will become reality... dune
1 remake should be the most graphically stunning game ever, since dune 1 was also pretty stunning for it's time... anything less would be a disservice to dune 1 ;) :) Which reminds me the water effect would fit nicely in the tunnels/underground caves for dune 1 and a nice little dripping effect into the pool/lake of water ! ;) :) ofcourse hot windy deserts/etc on top ;) :) =DBye, Skybuck.