Can Nvidia Kill the x86 Architecture?

[Hunain]

I quote as I read, its interesting.

Nvidia’s hop over the fence is a little more novel, and certainly worth noting. It’s no secret that graphics chips can perform a helluva lot of computations to deliver the ultimate in 3D gaming, but that same power can be harnessed for crunching numbers or running simulations. To that end, Nvidia last year launched technology called CUDA, which allows developers to build programs that run on graphics processors using the familiar C programming language instead of the more esoteric graphics programming languages.

With that move, Nvidia put Intel and AMD on notice. Today Nvidia’s CEO fired the first shot by introducing what it calls “The World’s Most Affordable Vista Premium PC,” a low-cost platform containing a Nvidia graphics processor and a lower-end CPU from Via Technologies. Nvidia isn’t only snubbing Intel, it’s trying to prove that PC buyers are better off with functional CPUs, and that high-performance tasks can be trusted to a graphics processor.

Full article:

Can Nvidia Kill the x86 Architecture? - GigaOM

[acrobat]

I can't see it myself, although I have no idea...

I could see them coming up with a graphics card/chip that does "some processing". so you could get away with a cheaper CPU. I bet that would be nice in PC's that people do Office type work on, because instead of getting a £50 cpu and a £50 graphics chip/card (example...), you could get a £20 cpu and a £30 graphics card/chip.

But I can't see them coming up with something that can compete with intels uber high end cpu's. All these quad cores are just so fast. It would be nice if they can though. The more competition the merrier. I'd love to be able to play modern PC games without spending a fortune on a high end CPU and graphics card..

[kalniel]

Short answer: no.

Longer answer: It's a bit of a race - Nvidia are scaling up simplistic processing units, while Intel is scaling down the x86 architecture (see Atom). Who will win? Intel.

[Fraz]

No way. For the same reason that Itanium never took off. There is just too much vested interest in x86, despite the obvious fact that it is an old and fairly crap way of doing things.

And if Intel can't replace x86 with something better, I sorely doubt Nvidia can.

[AndrewJ]

I see 64bit being the norm in the future, but not right now, too many people and businesses rely on 32bit based systems and a change over is to time costly and financially inviable.

[DanceswithUnix]

It is possible for a CPU to render graphics in the same way that it is possible to move 5 tons of dirt with a moped. Possible, but not the best tool for the job. It is also possible for a GPU to perform general computation in the same way that it is possible to use a flatbed pickup truck to deliver pizza.

Different tasks need silicon tuned in different ways and whilst things may muddy in the budget end I don't see that changing any time soon.

[Thorsson]

This is just tit for tat, take e.g. Intel's assertions that their integrated graphics will be 10x faster by 2010 and there's no future for rasterized graphics.

[Hicks12]

im gunna just say my opinion on this, nvidia will most likely fail, not the kind of financial backing as intel has and intel is going into nvidia market (gfx cards if you didnt know xD) and nvidia is moving into cpu redundancy (if that makes sense), i doubt nvidia will pull this off, especially since they are fighting amd and intel.

[b0redom]

No they won't kill of x86. There's way too much of an installed base. I personally think the best they will be able to do is a 'clone' similar to AMD and VIA.

64 bit chips have been available for ages now, and there's still very few businesses using 64 OSes on the desktop, and that's only a change in the install of Windows. A completely new architecture - requiring new builds of enterprise software? I sincerely doubt it.

[Lucio]

I don't think it can work in the home PC market, not unless there's a clear cost advantage to doing it a different way.

That said, there's a good target market in say, the games console and PDA segments, if they can benefit from a combined processing unit to perform much better that has previously been possible.

[chuckskull]

No. Next question?

Seriously though, the biggest names in the computer industry have invested a lot in x86 over the years. They will milk every last penny out of x86.

[-iceblade^]

i doubt they can even clone it - just imagine how difficult it'd be to gain support from developers for a system that isn't built on the X86 architecture. I don't think they can do it... they're too small... Intel, MAYBE...

[Rosaline]

I see nothing about plans to kill off x86 other than the dramatic headline, tbh.

This is just an alternative and sensationalist coverage of the nVidia/Intel spat reported on a few days ago, I'm afraid.

My comments then still stand - nVidia have been marketing themselves as the performance powerhouse. Hence this teaming up with VIA (who make very low power, cost and size x86 processors) is very strange, and is likely simply a stopgap campaign to placate the shareholders until they get a new idea.