Friday, September 17th 2004
HyperMemory technology by ATI
Today ATI announced that they developed "HyperMemory" a technology that allows for faster PCI-Express bus transfers between system and video card.
This sound pretty much like AGP's UMA (Unified Memory Architecture) to me. UMA suffered greatly from the limited bandwith and high latencies between system memory and AGP. PCI-Express doubles the bandwith and has mechanisms to reduce the latencies so it is only logical to port UMA to PCI-Express. Please note that a shared memory architecture makes only sense in the budget area (X300 range), performance-wise it can't compete with real on-board video memory.
Full Press Release:
ATI develops HyperMemory technology to reduce PC costs
HyperMemory uses PCI Express to enable maximum graphics processing performance while lowering overall PC cost
MARKHAM, ON/ Munich, Germany - September 17, 2004 - ATI Technologies (TSX:ATY, NASDAQ:ATYT) today announced HyperMemory, an innovative technology that reduces PC system costs by allowing its visual processors to use system memory for graphics processing. HyperMemory uses the high-speed bi-directional data transfer capabilities of PCI Express to store and access graphics data in system memory, leading to less of a dependence on graphics memory and ultimately a lower overall system cost.
Under previous interconnect standards, the data transfer between the visual processor and the CPU was not fast enough for real-time graphics applications, so graphics cards have shipped with up to 256 MB of dedicated graphics memory to store textures and rendering data required by the graphics processor. HyperMemory gives ATI and its board partners the option to deliver cards with less on-board memory and instead use system memory to handle the graphics storage requirements. The result is a lower overall PC cost for the same great graphics performance.
HyperMemory uses intelligent memory allocation algorithms to optimize the use of available local memory and ensure critical components are placed in fast local memory when required. Optimal assignment of data to local or system storage is determined dynamically to ensure the best user experience. HyperMemory also increases the performance of system bus data transfers, making accessing system memory faster than ever before.
Graphics cards featuring HyperMemory technology will be announced later this year.
This sound pretty much like AGP's UMA (Unified Memory Architecture) to me. UMA suffered greatly from the limited bandwith and high latencies between system memory and AGP. PCI-Express doubles the bandwith and has mechanisms to reduce the latencies so it is only logical to port UMA to PCI-Express. Please note that a shared memory architecture makes only sense in the budget area (X300 range), performance-wise it can't compete with real on-board video memory.
Full Press Release:
ATI develops HyperMemory technology to reduce PC costs
HyperMemory uses PCI Express to enable maximum graphics processing performance while lowering overall PC cost
MARKHAM, ON/ Munich, Germany - September 17, 2004 - ATI Technologies (TSX:ATY, NASDAQ:ATYT) today announced HyperMemory, an innovative technology that reduces PC system costs by allowing its visual processors to use system memory for graphics processing. HyperMemory uses the high-speed bi-directional data transfer capabilities of PCI Express to store and access graphics data in system memory, leading to less of a dependence on graphics memory and ultimately a lower overall system cost.
Under previous interconnect standards, the data transfer between the visual processor and the CPU was not fast enough for real-time graphics applications, so graphics cards have shipped with up to 256 MB of dedicated graphics memory to store textures and rendering data required by the graphics processor. HyperMemory gives ATI and its board partners the option to deliver cards with less on-board memory and instead use system memory to handle the graphics storage requirements. The result is a lower overall PC cost for the same great graphics performance.
HyperMemory uses intelligent memory allocation algorithms to optimize the use of available local memory and ensure critical components are placed in fast local memory when required. Optimal assignment of data to local or system storage is determined dynamically to ensure the best user experience. HyperMemory also increases the performance of system bus data transfers, making accessing system memory faster than ever before.
Graphics cards featuring HyperMemory technology will be announced later this year.
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