14 DAY TRIAL // Software development has proved to be just as important as hardware development. Usually, hardware makers need to take the lead and practically teach programmers how to better use the hardware available.
The first obvious move in such a direction was Intel’s introduction of the MMX extensions that offered programmers a simple set of instructions to be used in specific situations to achieve much higher performance using Intel’s latest processors at the time.
AMD took the second step with the introduction of 3D Now! Instruction set for their K6 processors.
Luckily for AMD, their K6 architecture was superior to anything Intel had at the time, but unfortunately Intel was better interlinked with the software world and there were much more programs optimized for Intel’s MMX than AMD’s 3D Now!.
AMD’s processors were also MMX compatible and capable, but Intel had and still has the most popular C compiler that practically asked the CPU what brand it was. If the CPU responded “Intel”, the best optimized run path was used.
If the CPU didn’t respond with the “Intel Genuine” string, any other response triggered a run path that practically ignored the MMX capability of the CPU and resulted in poor performance.
AMD needs to be popular with software developers and must get into software development itself.
Intel and Nvidia are in the habit of sending a programmers team to some software developers and help the developing team to optimize Intel’s or Nvidia’s products.
AMD was traditionally much less into software development and too cash-deprived to afford any such initiatives.
Now, at the second edition of AFDS, some key software development players have announced their presence. Also companies specialized in servers and cloud computing are attending. Adobe, Cloudera, Penguin Computing, Gaikai, Cyberlink, Arcsoft, vReveal and others have announced their presence and this year’s AFDS might really surprise us, as AMD practically has the most powerful mass-produced GPU. Nvidia is sure to overtake them soon, but right now AMD is still on top.