PowerVR Making a Comeback to PC as Discrete GPGPU, Real-Time Ray-Tracing in 2012

btarunr · Jan 24, 2012, 03:24 PM

Remember PowerVR GPUs which last saw light when GeForce 3 and Radeon 8500 were around? The company behind it, Imagination Technologies, is working on a discrete PCI-Express GPGPU card for workstations targeting the media industry, which provides real-time ray-tracing acceleration. After its exile from PC graphics, Imagination Technologies worked on and achieved prevalence in embedded GPUs, GPUs embedded into ARM System-on-chips (SoCs), found in smartphones and tablets. This kept its GPU IP and R&D more than afloat.

In 2011, the company acquired Caustic Graphics, a smaller and much newer startup, which was working on dedicated ray-tracing accelerators, and had come up with a working FCPGA chip. Together the company is in the final stages of preparing a product that will bring Imagination Technologies back to the PC, only this time as a GPGPU (such as NVIDIA Tesla and AMD FireStream), and not a display-GPU. The product will be backed by OpenRL Brazil 3.0 SDK. This product will launch some time in 2012.

Source: VR-Zone

ZoneDymo · Jan 24, 2012, 03:42 PM

Love it :P
Now where is Voodoo's real comeback?

Also just a matter of time before Nvidia absorbs the company

.

DanTheBanjoman · Jan 24, 2012, 04:09 PM

Meh, rather see a new Kyro. They promised

RejZoR · Jan 24, 2012, 04:17 PM

I'd love to see a 3rd successful graphics vendor. I miss days when you could choose between 4 or more vendors.

btarunr · Jan 24, 2012, 04:21 PM

I think it's impossibly tough to become a third discrete graphics vendor. NVIDIA, AMD, and Microsoft are too entangled in a cross-licensed IP clusterfuuu for a third discrete GPU vendor to fit anywhere in, even Intel couldn't do it, and the last vendor with considerable amount of discrete GPU IP was VIA with its Chrome GPUs, it couldn't get the price-performance right due to its low volumes, and so it got kicked.

Ferrum Master · Jan 24, 2012, 04:35 PM

They have at latest DirectX 11 tech anyway, fastest Ericsson Novathor CPU had it first I think.... I think even PSP Vita has a powerVR... At least i hope they can deliver a GPU that doesn't skyrocket our electricity bill...

And... there is definitely place in the market! They have all ancient licenses to do so... even Intel uses a powerVR core in its IGPs...

We should wait for Matrox to return also some day from its medical equipment field... it will happen as soon APU reign will gain strong and low and mid-entry end cards will be obsolete... and makers will start making only flagships... it must happen...

quantumchief · Jan 24, 2012, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ferrum Master

We should wait for Matrox to return also some day from its medical equipment field... it will happen as soon APU reign will gain strong and low and mid-entry end cards will be obsolete... and makers will start making only flagships... it must happen...

Don't wait for Matrox to do the same, the two owners got into a dispute in 2003 and just settled in june 2011. This kind of childish attitude doesn't help a company already struggling on the video card market. You can read the details on translated page (from french):

http://translate.google.com/translat...matrox&act=url

Ferrum Master · Jan 24, 2012, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quantumchief

Don't wait for Matrox to do the same, the two owners got into a dispute in 2003 and just settled in june 2011. This kind of childish attitude doesn't help a company already struggling on the video card market. You can read the details on translated page (from french):

http://translate.google.com/translat...matrox&act=url

Indeed bunch of silly Canadians...

Hokum · Jan 24, 2012, 08:30 PM

The Iphone and Ipad, plus most android phones/tablets have powervr graphics, all the SGX series...

Hokum · Jan 24, 2012, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by btarunr

I think it's impossibly tough to become a third discrete graphics vendor. NVIDIA, AMD, and Microsoft are too entangled in a cross-licensed IP clusterfuuu for a third discrete GPU vendor to fit anywhere in, even Intel couldn't do it, and the last vendor with considerable amount of discrete GPU IP was VIA with its Chrome GPUs, it couldn't get the price-performance right due to its low volumes, and so it got kicked.

S3 was bought by HTC... but I think they got rid of it recently.

NC37 · Jan 24, 2012, 10:23 PM

Well Intel couldn't do it because they have no concept of designing for the discrete industry. It moves fast and it was clear from the start that Larrabee wasn't going to happen. Intel paper launched it all over and took their sweet time. Then by the time it came to maybe launching it, the tech was long obsolete.

If PowerVR comes back, then yay! But they gotta have competitive products and a solid roadmap in place for products coming after the initial launch. Last company I remember that tried for the 3rd player spot, released in the midrange segment then never released anything after that. Wasn't bad tech, they just lacked any staying power.

xenocide · Jan 25, 2012, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by btarunr

I think it's impossibly tough to become a third discrete graphics vendor. NVIDIA, AMD, and Microsoft are too entangled in a cross-licensed IP clusterfuuu for a third discrete GPU vendor to fit anywhere in

Capitalism at its finest.

Prima.Vera · Jan 25, 2012, 08:51 AM

Oh no! Not another add-on card for gaming...

Bjorn_Of_Iceland · Jan 25, 2012, 02:44 PM

they better have good drivers. Since when was the last time they did one for windows?

eidairaman1 · Jan 25, 2012, 08:04 PM

PowerVR2 was the graphics backbone of the Sega Dreamcast

hellrazor · Jan 25, 2012, 09:20 PM

Oooo.... ray-traced gaming? Mmmm.... me likes the taste of that pussy.

theoneandonlymrk · Jan 25, 2012, 11:21 PM

Nice like the sound of new technology

Jan 24, 2012, 03:24 PM	#1
btarunr Editor & Senior Moderator Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Hyderabad, India Posts: 14,983 (7.30/day) Thanks: 788 Thanked 12,904 Times in 5,653 Posts System Specs	PowerVR Making a Comeback to PC as Discrete GPGPU, Real-Time Ray-Tracing in 2012 Remember PowerVR GPUs which last saw light when GeForce 3 and Radeon 8500 were around? The company behind it, Imagination Technologies, is working on a discrete PCI-Express GPGPU card for workstations targeting the media industry, which provides real-time ray-tracing acceleration. After its exile from PC graphics, Imagination Technologies worked on and achieved prevalence in embedded GPUs, GPUs embedded into ARM System-on-chips (SoCs), found in smartphones and tablets. This kept its GPU IP and R&D more than afloat. In 2011, the company acquired Caustic Graphics, a smaller and much newer startup, which was working on dedicated ray-tracing accelerators, and had come up with a working FCPGA chip. Together the company is in the final stages of preparing a product that will bring Imagination Technologies back to the PC, only this time as a GPGPU (such as NVIDIA Tesla and AMD FireStream), and not a display-GPU. The product will be backed by OpenRL Brazil 3.0 SDK. This product will launch some time in 2012. Source: VR-Zone

System Name:	Blackbox
Processor:	Intel Core i7-950
Motherboard:	Intel Extreme Series DX58OG
Cooling:	Xigmatek Aegir SD128264 with IC Diamond 24 Thermal Compound
Memory:	12GB ADATA Premier (3x 4GB) DDR3-1333 MHz
Video Card:	Palit GeForce GTX 680 JetStream 2GB outfitted with IC Diamond 24 TIM
Hard Disk:	Samsung 840 Series 250GB, Random 8 TB storage
Optical Drive:	HT-LG DVD-RW
CRT/LCD Model:	ViewSonic VX2450wm-LED
Case:	Cooler Master CM690 Window
Sound Card:	Creative SB Recon3D
PSU:	Corsair HX850W
Software:	Windows 8 Pro 64-bit

Processor:	Dual Xeon 5506
Motherboard:	Asus Z8NA-D6
Cooling:	2x Thermalright HR-01 X/passive
Memory:	6GB Corsair something
Video Card:	EVGA GTX 260 Core 216
Hard Disk:	None
Optical Drive:	None
CRT/LCD Model:	24" Asus
Case:	Thermaltake Swing
Sound Card:	Onboard
PSU:	620W CM
Software:	Win2k8

Jan 24, 2012, 04:17 PM	#4
RejZoR Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Europe/Slovenia Posts: 3,965 (1.26/day) Thanks: 39 Thanked 753 Times in 541 Posts System Specs	I'd love to see a 3rd successful graphics vendor. I miss days when you could choose between 4 or more vendors. __________________ RejZoR's Little Secrets @ rejzor dot tk

System Name:	The BlackBox 3
Processor:	Intel Core i7 920 4,2 GHz
Motherboard:	ASUS Rampage II Gene + 2x Noiseblocker XM2 on chipset/VRM
Cooling:	ANTEC H2O 920 + 2x Noiseblocker M12-S3HS
Memory:	6GB Corsair Dominator 1600MHz
Video Card:	GIGABYTE RADEON HD7950 3GB WindForce 3X (1100/6000)
Hard Disk:	WD Caviar Black 2TB 64MB
Optical Drive:	SAMSUNG SH-S223F
CRT/LCD Model:	SAMSUNG SyncMaster 931c
Case:	Lian Li PC-V354 Black
Sound Card:	Creative Sound Blaster Z + Altec Lansing MX5021
PSU:	Corsair HX750 + Noiseblocker BlackSilent XR2
Software:	Windows 8 Professional x64
Benchmarks:	It can run 3DMark and all...

Jan 24, 2012, 03:42 PM	#2
ZoneDymo Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 303 (0.19/day) Thanks: 1 Thanked 35 Times in 23 Posts	Love it :P Now where is Voodoo's real comeback? Also just a matter of time before Nvidia absorbs the company .

Jan 24, 2012, 04:09 PM	#3
DanTheBanjoman Señor Moderator Join Date: May 2004 Location: Utrecht, Utrecht, The kingdom of the Netherlands Posts: 8,498 (2.58/day) Thanks: 41 Thanked 1,453 Times in 1,077 Posts System Specs	Meh, rather see a new Kyro. They promised

Jan 24, 2012, 04:21 PM	#5
btarunr Editor & Senior Moderator Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Hyderabad, India Posts: 14,983 (7.30/day) Thanks: 788 Thanked 12,904 Times in 5,653 Posts System Specs	I think it's impossibly tough to become a third discrete graphics vendor. NVIDIA, AMD, and Microsoft are too entangled in a cross-licensed IP clusterfuuu for a third discrete GPU vendor to fit anywhere in, even Intel couldn't do it, and the last vendor with considerable amount of discrete GPU IP was VIA with its Chrome GPUs, it couldn't get the price-performance right due to its low volumes, and so it got kicked. __________________ Gadgets, Phones, Tablets, Cameras, TVs, HiFi...NextPowerUp

Jan 24, 2012, 04:35 PM	#6
Ferrum Master Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Riga, Latvia Posts: 288 (0.31/day) Thanks: 26 Thanked 48 Times in 36 Posts System Specs	They have at latest DirectX 11 tech anyway, fastest Ericsson Novathor CPU had it first I think.... I think even PSP Vita has a powerVR... At least i hope they can deliver a GPU that doesn't skyrocket our electricity bill... And... there is definitely place in the market! They have all ancient licenses to do so... even Intel uses a powerVR core in its IGPs... We should wait for Matrox to return also some day from its medical equipment field... it will happen as soon APU reign will gain strong and low and mid-entry end cards will be obsolete... and makers will start making only flagships... it must happen... __________________

Processor:	Intel Xeon X5660 Westmere
Motherboard:	ASUS Sabertooth X58
Cooling:	Prolimatech Megahalems
Memory:	3*2GB Corsair XMS3 CM3X2G1600C8
Video Card:	HD 7970
Hard Disk:	2 x Crucial M4 64GB RAID0 + 2TB Samsung F4
CRT/LCD Model:	HP LP2275w
Case:	Fractal Design Define R4
Sound Card:	Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro
PSU:	Enermax Galaxy DXX EGX1000EWL
Software:	Windows 8 x64

Jan 24, 2012, 08:30 PM	#9
Hokum Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Glossop, UK Posts: 63 (0.12/day) Thanks: 2 Thanked 9 Times in 5 Posts System Specs	The Iphone and Ipad, plus most android phones/tablets have powervr graphics, all the SGX series...

System Name:	Wolf Command
Processor:	AMD 960T @ 4Ghz
Motherboard:	Asus M5A97 Pro
Cooling:	Reserator
Memory:	8Gb Gskill DDR1600 Ripjaw x
Video Card:	Powercolor 5830
Hard Disk:	2x Kingston 64Gb SSD's 1x Seagate 320Gb 1x seagate 160Gb
Optical Drive:	Pioneer SATA DVDRW
CRT/LCD Model:	Iiyama E511s, Dell 2004, Benq 22" LED
Case:	Antec P180
Sound Card:	OB
PSU:	PPC 650W
Software:	Windows 7

Jan 24, 2012, 10:23 PM	#11
NC37 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: The armpit of California Posts: 1,060 (0.64/day) Thanks: 156 Thanked 237 Times in 141 Posts System Specs	Well Intel couldn't do it because they have no concept of designing for the discrete industry. It moves fast and it was clear from the start that Larrabee wasn't going to happen. Intel paper launched it all over and took their sweet time. Then by the time it came to maybe launching it, the tech was long obsolete. If PowerVR comes back, then yay! But they gotta have competitive products and a solid roadmap in place for products coming after the initial launch. Last company I remember that tried for the 3rd player spot, released in the midrange segment then never released anything after that. Wasn't bad tech, they just lacked any staying power. __________________ "We tried to help Intel, but they don’t listen much. We’ve been telling them for years that their graphics suck…" -Steve Jobs

System Name:	Lailalo / Edelweiss
Processor:	FX 8320 @ 4.5Ghz / i7 3610QM @2.3-3.2Ghz
Motherboard:	ASrock 990FX Extreme 4 / Lenovo Y580
Cooling:	Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus / Big hunk of copper
Memory:	16GB Samsung 30nm DDR3 1600+ / 8GB Hyundai DDR3 1600
Video Card:	(2x) Gigabyte GTX460 1GB (816,1000,1632) / GTX 660M 2GB
Hard Disk:	Seagate 1TB/250GB/80GB + 500GB WD Passport + OCZ Synapse 64GB SSD Cache / Seagate Momentus 500GB
Optical Drive:	16x DVD Internal + Samsung External BD Combo / BD-Combo drive
CRT/LCD Model:	Viewsonic 20.1 @ 1680x1050 / Lenovo 15.6 @ 1920x1080
Case:	Coolermaster Storm Sniper / Lenovo Y580
Sound Card:	Asus Xonar DG / Whatever Lenovo used
PSU:	Antec Truepower Blue 750W / Big Power Brick
Software:	Windows 7 Pro / Windows 7 Home Premium
Benchmarks:	Cinebench 11.5: CPU @ 7.72 GL @ 56.52

Processor:	Intel i5-2500k
Motherboard:	MSI P67A-GD65
Cooling:	Corsair Hydro H60
Memory:	8GB (4x2GB) G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3-1600
Video Card:	eVGA GTX670
Hard Disk:	WD Caviar Black 1TB
Optical Drive:	ASUS DRW-24B1ST
CRT/LCD Model:	Acer GD235HZbid 120hz LCD
Case:	Rosewill Destroyer Mid-Tower
Sound Card:	Onboard
PSU:	Corsair 650W 650-TX
Software:	Windows 7 Professional

Jan 25, 2012, 08:51 AM	#13
Prima.Vera Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Antagonia Posts: 1,366 (2.22/day) Thanks: 225 Thanked 179 Times in 120 Posts System Specs	Oh no! Not another add-on card for gaming...

System Name:	Fluffy
Processor:	Intel 486DX4-100Mhz
Memory:	16MB EDO RAM
Video Card:	S3 Vige GX2-4MB + 3Dfx VooDoo2
Hard Disk:	60GB WD
Sound Card:	Creative SB AWE 32

Jan 25, 2012, 02:44 PM	#14
Bjorn_Of_Iceland Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Húsið mitt Posts: 2,607 (1.32/day) Thanks: 479 Thanked 356 Times in 265 Posts System Specs	they better have good drivers. Since when was the last time they did one for windows? __________________ SIEG HEIL!!

System Name:	Main Rig: Specs Below \| Download Rig: HP DM1Z AMD E350
Processor:	2500k @ 4.8Ghz
Motherboard:	MSi Z77 GD55
Cooling:	Raystorm > MCP655 > XSPC 240 Rad etc
Memory:	Corsair Vengeance 1600 c8
Video Card:	GTX 680 +120mhz core / +500mhz
Hard Disk:	Corsair Force GT 120GB SSD / 2TB WD Black
Optical Drive:	Whats that?
CRT/LCD Model:	Asus VG236H 120hz 3dvision
Case:	Scythe Fenris Wolf
Sound Card:	SB X-Fi Titanium + ATH-M50 / Creative Gigaworks T40
PSU:	Seasonic X Series X850
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Jan 25, 2012, 08:04 PM	#15
eidairaman1 Eligible for custom title Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: HTX Posts: 10,078 (4.68/day) Thanks: 1,359 Thanked 1,159 Times in 1,035 Posts System Specs	PowerVR2 was the graphics backbone of the Sega Dreamcast __________________ Athlon XP USERS with COD 4 FIX http://www.techsupportforum.com/foru...ls-202011.html http://www.howorks.com/2011/02/24/ho...-memory-limit/ “Sometimes my level of fail is unprecedented.” -TheMailMan78 “This is what the force of a thousand suns looks like.” -3870x2

System Name:	BS03/04
Processor:	AMD Athlon XP-M 2500+ 2.2GHz 1.5V
Motherboard:	DFI LanParty NFII Ultra-B Bios (TicTac 3D Fire R2)
Cooling:	4 Antec 80mm, TR SI-97 Adapted TT Big Typhoon Fan 120MM
Memory:	2GB Mushkin Redline 4000 @ 200 MHz 2.5V
Video Card:	Sapphire R1950Pro 512MB AGP 1.5V
Hard Disk:	250 & 400 GB Seagate Baracuda 10 SATA
Optical Drive:	2x Samsung Multiformat Rewritable Drives
CRT/LCD Model:	NEC Multisync LCD 1700V
Case:	Antec SX830 EATX Case
Sound Card:	Creative Labs SB XFi Xtreme Music & SB PCI 512
PSU:	Antec NEO HE 500 Watt
Software:	Windows 7 Home Premium
Benchmarks:	Win 7 Eval. CPU 3.9 Ram 4.5 Graphics 6.0 HD 5.7

Jan 25, 2012, 09:20 PM	#16
hellrazor Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 1,334 (1.12/day) Thanks: 1,381 Thanked 272 Times in 190 Posts System Specs	Oooo.... ray-traced gaming? Mmmm.... me likes the taste of that pussy. __________________ "Doom means two things: demons and shotguns." -John Carmack

System Name:	Coldkill
Processor:	AMD Opteron 180
Motherboard:	ASRock 939DualSATA2
Cooling:	Teleportation of ice from Pluto
Memory:	4 GB DDR400 Dual-channel
Video Card:	nVidia (Galaxy) GT240
Hard Disk:	40GB IBM, 1TB WD RED
Optical Drive:	DVD/CD writer of some random kind
CRT/LCD Model:	Samsung SyncMaster 930b
Case:	Black Box
Sound Card:	Soundblaster Audigy SE
PSU:	Thermaltake TR2 600 Watt
Software:	Windows 7, Linux Mint

Jan 25, 2012, 11:21 PM	#17
theoneandonlymrk Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: republic of mancunia UK Posts: 2,231 (1.91/day) Thanks: 848 Thanked 368 Times in 307 Posts System Specs	Nice like the sound of new technology

System Name:	Quad GT V evo / eeaaagle
Processor:	FX8350 @ 4.9 / PII 960T 3.6
Motherboard:	Asus Crosshair V formula/ asus 970A-DS3
Cooling:	240+320 rad, cpu,5870,5850,NB/Vrm blocks all EK /Hyper212 TT mod'd
Memory:	2x4Gig Mushkin blackline 2133 @2133 cas10/ ocz flex2 2x2Gb
Video Card:	5870+5850 960Gpu 1200mem gtx460x2(physx)/ nVidia GTs240
Hard Disk:	2xsamsung 840(std), WD 1Tb+2Tb grn/ Revox2 120Gig ,2xWD 250's raid 0
Optical Drive:	pioneer dvd writer/ pioneer dvd writer
CRT/LCD Model:	HannsG 23" sony bravia 32", hd ready projector (footy)/headless(24/7) + sony tv
Case:	Custom(modded) thermaltake Kandalf / random black rubbish
Sound Card:	Xfi creative 7.1 on board / low fi realtek onboard
PSU:	corsair 1200AX / modded corsair 850TX
Software:	Win8 Pro.win7 Ultimate x64 licensed
Benchmarks:	13.62K best overall sandra so far, Unigine 2500 @1680x1050 default, 3dmark11 8534 3dmark firestrike

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
AMD FX Making a Comeback, to Challenge Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition	btarunr	News	155	Jan 4, 2011 08:25 PM
Mushkin Making a Comeback With Video Cards	btarunr	News	43	Jul 8, 2009 05:04 PM
NVIDIA Demonstrates Real-time Interactive Ray-tracing	btarunr	News	93	Aug 20, 2008 07:50 PM
half-life 2 + ray tracing	Morgoth	Games	1	Aug 18, 2008 05:37 PM
Ray Tracing: The next step in CG ?	_33	General Hardware	3	Dec 18, 2006 06:40 PM