GPU Developement Ideas

[dentside302]

I was listening to the NeweggTV video on Richland APUs and how the integration of powerful gpus on the cpu die is an incredible technology. I got to thinking and one of the main problems in dedicated gpus is temperatures. A cpu in a socket has a lot of headroom to put a massive cooler on top and cool it down. GPUs aren't so lucky. They are stuck in an interface originally meant for NICs, modems, HDD controllers, and other similar peripheral devices. Originally their was simply not enough bandwidth for a GPU to fully perform in the original external bus connectors. However, we have since overcome this problem and now face cooling as a potential limiting factor. Linus mentioned this cooling issue with GPUs in a previous livestream and it just now occured to me that, "What if GPUs were in a different interface." The external bus connector has been around a while and I think that it is time for a change. Imagine if you bought the graphics chip and put it in a socket interface like a CPU. You could put a massive air cooler on it that doesn't break the bank and achieve ludicrous clock speeds compared to what is currently the standard. But simply taking the socket approach may not be the best idea. For example, how does crossfire/SLI work. OK, multiple GPU sockets, bu then what if the motherboard manufacturer puts then right next to each other, how do I cool them? There could be a standard distance between sockets and cooling solutions could be unified for multi GPU configurations. One problem solved, but there are many other reasons that a socket type interface simply isn't optimized for a GPU environment. I don't have a great idea as of yet, but I would like this thread to become a great discussion topic on an alternative GPU interface, and who knows, maybe the Linus Tech Tips Forum will be the site to claim the original idea behind a revolutionary, multi-billion dollar design. Discuss below and please keep the criticism constructive. I am only 15, so you may know something I don't and  disagree with a different interface entirely. I have stated my case for a new interface so please give a valid argument for yours. Thanks and lets keep the Linus Tech Tips forum on the rise.

[911^NEmeSis]

Well the idea of a socket based GPU is great. It would however be extremely difficult to implement and unrealistic due to the all of the other features found on a graphics cards PCB. Still a good thought though a,d yeah the APU technology is good stuff! It's very true about the cooling aspect though, there is a lot more headroom for beefier coolers.

[Maskot]

Perhaps having a motherboard with 2 slots, one for the CPU and one for the GPU, with slots for CPU memory (DDR3) and the GPU's memory (GDDR5) and just make pci-e slots out of date except for sound, raid, and capture cards.  In the case that you want a GPU with this much power, but more memory than a GPU from a company, say a 2GB 660, you can have a 660 with 4GB's, and also cheaper cooling options than  full reference card custom water blocks, which in all honesty are amazing but too specialized.

[ChaoticWeaponry]

It's possible. Motherboard with CPU socket, and a GPU socket. GDDR5 RAM slots, etc.Sounds like a great idea to me, makes it easier to install a larger cooler.

[ChaoticWeaponry]

Only problem would be SLI-ing a card. You don't have much space.

[Maskot]

It's not like a dual socket motherboard is a completely outlandish idea.

[Maskot]

Only problem would be SLI-ing a card. You don't have much space.

Very true, but if you can get a 50% speed boost to price comparison with interchangeable GPU's that cost about as much as a mid range CPU, it would be cheaper to upgrade to a newer one, perhaps you can have a motherboard with say, 5 slots for 4 GPU's and a CPU, of course that's ridiculous, but so is a motherboard with 4 pci-e 3.0 x16 slots.

[Beefy547]

I could see a future where we have separate RAM slots for the GPU and a socket for it. Perhaps not multiple sockets but a singe socket that can be loaded with as many cores as the manufacturer wants, and then the very high end motherboards might have multiple sockets. The only disadvantage would be the socket would bee a lot of space as cores are much larger. As far as the cooling goes, this could mean a lot for air cooling, although the current configuration is why liquid cooling is so nice, the orientation doesn't matter as long as the water gets to the block. This may also change the shape of computers to a much flatter overall design. I don't think the technology is here currently to shove so much onto a PCB, they are so packed as it is, For instance ASUS began to shove the power delivery system onto a smaller PCB sticking off of the side of the motherboard on one of their Mini ATX mobos.

 

One thing  that may help thermals is having PCI express slots rotated 90 degrees, having blower style fans facing to the to the outside of the case would improve thermals so much. With all this talk about frame rating and multi-GPU configurations not being very efficient, maybe SLI and CrossFire for the consumer, would dissapear. Perhaps the GPUs would be powerful enough in the future. Or perhaps PCI express in the future would have enough bandwidth to support up to four cores on a single card. This way you would have effective four way SLI/CrossFire all being cooled efficiently.

 

I like your idea that things could change and I agree that the current configuration is not the most efficient.