What's so special about Nvidia architecture

Intel
mNdf23

Go to company page Intel

mNdf23
May 28, 2020 14 Comments

Be careful not to post any IP related information, just looking for publicly available high level information about what makes GPU architecture so special.
My limited understanding is that GPUs are simpler than CPUs and have lesser architectural complexity. How is Nvidia running so much ahead of the "competition"?

Same can be asked about apple processors.
Publicly leaked info or Tom's hardware kind of analysis is welcome.

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TOP 14 Comments
  • Intel
    Hellhound

    Go to company page Intel

    Hellhound
    I believe this is due to nvidia’s heavy emphasis on making the quality of their software stack world class, which has led to many performance improvements and optimizations in the overall product. With this in mind they focus a lot on hardware acceleration (thereby making new innovations in their hardware architecture) and improving the overall hardware-software system. I have not seen any other hardware company investing so much to improve the performance of their software stack (except maybe apple).
    May 29, 2020 2
    • Intel
      Try2Hard

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      Try2Hard
      @All fellow Intelers - Good point! Why can't Intel do the same and improve their software??? Is OneAPI going to change anything? Does Intel even have the capacity to pull this off with their lower payed (and thus less motivated or skilled) SWEs?
      May 29, 2020
    • Intel
      mNdf23

      Go to company page Intel

      mNdf23
      OP
      I don't think it has to do with the lack of talent but more to do with management's vision and direction. Sometimes it's too little too late. Only a handful teams or sometimes people doing all the heavy lifting and not much recognition. The actual engineer might have no idea of the real impact. Sometimes even subtle things also can be of great help to customers. Like more telemetry or better methods, better APIs.
      May 29, 2020
  • Marvell
    Innerpeas

    Go to company page Marvell

    Innerpeas
    Nvidia success is due to CUDA
    May 28, 2020 1
  • Xilinx
    qePr18

    Go to company page Xilinx

    qePr18
    Google "Dissecting the NVIDIA Volta GPU Architecture via Microbenchmarking"
    May 28, 2020 2
  • NVIDIA
    cbsu56

    Go to company page NVIDIA

    cbsu56
    Ease of programming.
    May 28, 2020 3
    • NVIDIA
      cbsu56

      Go to company page NVIDIA

      cbsu56
      Intel has been trying that since mid-2000. OpenCL didn’t pan out as most would have liked. In general software is big part and other HW vendors are not there yet. Things of course might change but NV can adapt too.
      May 28, 2020
    • Intel
      mNdf23

      Go to company page Intel

      mNdf23
      OP
      Makes sense I guess.
      May 28, 2020
  • Marvell
    Innerpeas

    Go to company page Marvell

    Innerpeas
    cuda and the focus and belief on GPU are the key ingredients of nvidia success
    May 29, 2020 1
    • Intel
      mNdf23

      Go to company page Intel

      mNdf23
      OP
      I agree, single minded execution does stand out.
      Semiconductor leadership should learn from this.
      I guess move fast and break things may not work in hardware, hardware is 'hard'
      May 29, 2020