Samsung to build own mobile GPU

[Notional]

According to Fudzilla, Samsung has been developing its own mobile GPU for a while.

 

Apparently, this strategy has been devised to eliminate extra licensing fees and buying third party hardware.

 

 

We have confirmation from several Silicon Valley based companies and insiders that Samsung's GPU development has been going for a few years. Bear in mind that you need at least two years to design a chip, and if this is the first time you are doing it, you probably need more.

 

When a marketable product is ready, has yet to be disclosed.

 

 

 

My personal take:

 

With Samsungs recent cooperation with Global Foundries, to bring 14nm Finfet nodes into production, later this year, this seems to be a good starting point, for the production of these new Samsung GPU chips, although it is not certain, if Samsungs new GPU's will be 14 nm.

 

It makes sense for a large conglomerate like Samsung, to venture into this area in a cost/benefit strategy to further reduce costs on their mobile division. The big loser in this shift, could be Nvidia, as this new product will compete directly with the Tegra chip, at least in the long run (tablets, in car entertainment, etc.).

 

Sources:

http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/35744-samsung-is-building-a-gpu Samsung builds a GPU

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/181136-samsung-and-globalfoundries-buddy-up-for-14nm-while-ibm-heads-for-the-exit Samsung/global Foundries 14nm Finfet

[SAV1OUR]

this can't go well 

[DarrenP]

It's about time. 

[virtualTune]

This should be fun

[malaki]

We finally see Samsung phones using Samsung chips...

[qwertywarrior]

yeah it will compete directly with Nvidia ........... and qualcomm and ARM and imagination

[The_Strict_Nein]

Is this an admittance from Samsung and Qualcomm that they've been stealing Nvidia's GPU technology, so now they have to build there own?

 

Only time will tell.

[Ace Light]

If it means cheaper Galaxy series mobile phones then I am all in!

[zanduh]

If it means cheaper Galaxy series mobile phones then I am all in!

 

If the Galaxy series was made cheaper, where exactly would the R&D costs for designing this new chip be allocated to?

[Karumu]

If it means cheaper Galaxy series mobile phones then I am all in!

talking about mobile GPU's for laptops n stuff, samsung already make chips for mobile devices

[The_Evenger]

We finally see Samsung phones using Samsung chips...

off topic but i was about 1nm from using that as my emblem when i saw that scene, but decided to use my typical one (<---- that one), it looks even better than i thought it would, i regret not doing it.

[LukeTim]

talking about mobile GPU's for laptops n stuff, samsung already make chips for mobile devices

 

They make Exynos SoCs but they don't really design them. They do higher level design but the actual design of the cores within the SoC (the CPU, GPU, Video Encode/Decode etc) are all designs from elsewhere. This is the first time Samsung will have their own design in their SoCs.

[Levent]

yeah it will compete directly with Nvidia ........... and qualcomm and ARM and imagination

well they are still using ARM architecture so...

[Slinkey]

This can go well!

[qwertywarrior]

well they are still using ARM architecture so...

he was specifically talking about the GPU

and it was odd that he just choose nvidia as a competitor since qualcomm is everywhere

and ive rarely seen Nvidia in anything

[harrynowl]

We finally see Samsung phones using Samsung chips...

In Europe most Samsung phones use the Exynos chips

[frostin1990]

This means affordable Samsung flagship phones for everyone?

[LukeTim]

well they are still using ARM architecture so...

 

Yes, but they have been using ARM Mali GPUs in their SoCs quite regularly up until now...

Assuming this is for their own needs I wouldn't say this was competing with anyone, to be honest. Exynos is Samsung's own SoC for their own devices, they don't generally sell it to anybody else and I don't see why they would license out their new GPU for similar reasons... ARM and IMG might be losing custom (because Samsung uses their GPU IP in their Exynos chips at the moment) but this is not competition.

[totjup5]

I'd like to see them try to compete with tegra k1 in graphics performance.... Something tells me they will fail.

[LAwLz]

I'd like to see them try to compete with tegra k1 in graphics performance.... Something tells me they will fail.

What makes you say they will fail at that? Both Qualcomm and Imagination can trade blows with Nvidia so I think Samsung stands a pretty good chance.

 

 

 

They make Exynos SoCs but they don't really design them. They do higher level design but the actual design of the cores within the SoC (the CPU, GPU, Video Encode/Decode etc) are all designs from elsewhere. This is the first time Samsung will have their own design in their SoCs.

They have made some designs on their own in Exynos. For example they had their "Samsung Reprogrammable Processor" which they used for things like audio stuff, I think they designed the LTE modem in the ModAP themselves as well (and also some other modems). I am not sure, but they might also have made some ISPs for SoCs too.

I am sure about the SRP being custom and them having 2G/3G/HSPA+ modems, but not 100% sure about the other stuff.

So it's not like they just take puzzle pieces and fit them together (and even that can be hard). I am excited to see how their first attempt turns out.

 

On a side note, it's confirmed that the Exynos 5433 is a quad core Cortex A53 + quad core Cortex A57. However it won't support 64bit (or AArch64) for some reason. I am really looking forward to those tests.

[LukeTim]

What makes you say they will fail at that? Both Qualcomm and Imagination can trade blows with Nvidia so I think Samsung stands a pretty good chance.

 

 

 

They have made some designs on their own in Exynos. For example they had their "Samsung Reprogrammable Processor" which they used for things like audio stuff, I think they designed the LTE modem in the ModAP themselves as well (and also some other modems). I am not sure, but they might also have made some ISPs for SoCs too.

I am sure about the SRP being custom and them having 2G/3G/HSPA+ modems, but not 100% sure about the other stuff.

So it's not like they just take puzzle pieces and fit them together (and even that can be hard). I am excited to see how their first attempt turns out.

 

On a side note, it's confirmed that the Exynos 5433 is a quad core Cortex A53 + quad core Cortex A57. However it won't support 64bit (or AArch64) for some reason. I am really looking forward to those tests.

 

Well, it is their first time designing something as significant as the GPU, at least.

I don't know where their Video core comes from... that'd be interesting. It is possibly their own, I guess.

[patrickjp93]

talking about mobile GPU's for laptops n stuff, samsung already make chips for mobile devices

Samsung GPU in a laptop after the pretty damning evidence came out regarding stealing Nvidia's designs?! Never going to happen. Even Intel has a vested interest keeping the titanic force that is Samsung out of their back yard. I imagine Intel is now saying "Nvidia, you can borrow our legal team if you let us use your tessellation engine in our iGPUs. Hell maybe we'll throw in x86 usage rights since we're feeling generous."

[LAwLz]

Well, it is their first time designing something as significant as the GPU, at least.

I don't know where their Video core comes from... that'd be interesting. It is possibly their own, I guess.

Yeah it's a pretty big step for them. I am surprised they didn't start with a CPU. For some reason I think starting out by modifying let's say a Cortex A57 would have been easier than building a GPU.

I have 0 knowledge about CPU or GPU design though so maybe I am completely wrong about that.

[patrickjp93]

Yeah it's a pretty big step for them. I am surprised they didn't start with a CPU. For some reason I think starting out by modifying let's say a Cortex A57 would have been easier than building a GPU.

I have 0 knowledge about CPU or GPU design though so maybe I am completely wrong about that.

CPUs are more difficult. There's a lot of control/pipeline logic you have to implement, and by definition GPUs suck at serial computing. GPUs are simpler to design.

[ijKs Snow]

No wonder they been hiring a lot of engineers at their Silicon Valley headquarters.