Graphics Chips Starring as Processors, Try No. N

by Yaroslav Lyssenko

[ 06/14/2005 | 01:04 PM ]

Modern graphics processing units (GPU) are far more complex than contemporary central processing units (CPUs) and even though they work on much lower frequencies, the number of operations they can perform at once may exceed than of the CPUs. Unfortunately, in order to make GPU calculate something other than graphics, a completely new programming language, or a special translating software, should be written.

“The Scout programming language, developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico, US, lets scientists run complex calculations on a computer’s graphics processing unit (GPU) instead of its central processing unit (CPU). In tests, the graphics processor was able to perform certain types of calculation 12 times faster than a single CPU,” writes New Scientist.

In fact, in the past a number of attempts to use GPU as CPU were made, but none were recognized by the industry.

“These [GPU] chips normally sit idle when scientists work. They have all this processing power but it’s just not being used. Researchers could use the Scout programming language to simulate and visualize various phenomena, such as ocean currents and the formation of galaxies. Performing these calculations on a graphics processor makes it simple to render simulations visually at the same time,” says Patrick McCormick, a LANL researcher.

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