Why is there no Dual or Quad core GPU's.

I just think that its an interesting question. Dual core CPU's have been out for a bit. Why no Dual Core GPU's?

I know about the two GPU's on one board like the 3870 x2 and two boards put together like the 9800 GX2,

I am just wondering about two or more cores on a GPU chip like a dual or quad core CPU.

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GPUs are inherently parallel, unlike CPUs. If it helps you, you can see a shader as a very simple processor. Since GPUs have plenty of those, they are already "multi-cored".
Two gpus on a single die aren't very economical unless the gpu architecture is scaling very well and the chip to chip interconnects are fast and don't require many transistors. It is possible that we will see something like a dual core GPU from AMD one day.
That's speculation though.

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Reply to Slobogob

I've been wondering this myself for a while. Might be something to do with heat though as single cores are finding themselves easily in the 50-70C range so add another core to the equation and every card would need to come with water cooling as standard!

Reply to ghostwalker

Look at the transistor count and die sizes of GPU chips compared to CPU's. I think that it is a matter of yield and thermal load. I do not think that it a matter price.

Look at all the early adopters who SLI'ed 8800GTX's. "If you build it, they will come."

Reply to jsc

Mulitple CPUs or cores are beneficial when running multiple applications, or multithreaded programs. Your CPU must be all things to all programs and all parts of your PC at once.
Your GPU is much more specialized, it's job is to basically do one thing.
Also, as Slobogob pointed out, if you look at the shader units and stream processors, GPU's are already multi-cored many times over.

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Reply to jitpublisher

Great input, Thanks a lot it makes more sense now. I have been trying to do more research on the technical aspects of both CPU and GPU. Thanks.

Reply to harly2

jitpublisher wrote :

Mulitple CPUs or cores are beneficial when running multiple applications, or multithreaded programs. Your CPU must be all things to all programs and all parts of your PC at once.
Your GPU is much more specialized, it's job is to basically do one thing.
Also, as Slobogob pointed out, if you look at the shader units and stream processors, GPU's are already multi-cored many times over.

i think this are conclusion of all idea . :hello:
The GPUs are already Multi cores :bounce: .

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Reply to salem80

Sorry i mean this

Slobogob wrote :

GPUs are inherently parallel, unlike CPUs. If it helps you, you can see a shader as a very simple processor. Since GPUs have plenty of those, they are already "multi-cored".
Two gpus on a single die aren't very economical unless the gpu architecture is scaling very well and the chip to chip interconnects are fast and don't require many transistors. It is possible that we will see something like a dual core GPU from AMD one day.
That's speculation though.

Reply to salem80

There's a rumor going around that RV870 'Lil Dragon' might have MCM solution with two chips in one package, bit like Intels quads. It's too early to tell how accurate those rumors are, but if not in the next generation then maybe the one after that...

http://www.nordichardware.com/news,8292.html

Quote :

The last piece goes on to say that R800 will feature a MCM (Multi-Chip Module) solution with two RV870 dies under the same IHS. This rumor has been going around for long, and when they claim it is already made, we doubt it even more. On the other hand, it turned out that the rather poor specifications of RV770 turned out to be completely off and that the unfeasible information of 800 shaders turned out to be right...

Reply to Kari

I was wondering the same thing, even waited for a "dual core" to come out. I bought a 7950GX2 when they came out, and it worked great, until games like farcry2 and crysis came out. I haven't even bought them because I figured It would be spending $1500 to play one video game. Thats more than what I've spent at arcades during the 80's, 90's and 2k.

I read online articals to find the GPU, like these guys posted, are a whole different design, hardware, and software design

Reply to kassenz

The whole idea of where AMD and Intel plan to go for notebooks and some desktops in the future seems to involve GPU core(s) along with CPU cores. As Kari already said, rumors of the next ATI GPU involve multiple cores. That has to be the future for graphics cards, because thermals and power requirements of high end cards today are unbelievably high; especially with dual GPU's on one PCB solutions like the 4870x2.

Message edited by yipsl on 10-31-2008 at 11:27:30 AM

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Reply to yipsl

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