Nvidia's David Kirk on CUDA, CPUs and GPUs - bit-tech.net Forums

Tim S · 30th Apr 2008, 07:56

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...rk-interview/1

It's almost three years since we last interviewed David Kirk, Nvidia's Chief Scientist. And with everything going on in the industry right now, it was a great time to catch up with him to find out where he sees the industry going and how Nvidia will be part of that.

Please digg to share, thank you for your support!

BioSniper · 30th Apr 2008, 08:32

Nice interview Tim, good bit of morning reading as always and its great to be kept up with just where the industry is looking at going.

phuzz · 30th Apr 2008, 11:55

He's pretty harsh about AMD/ATI, but it's hard to argue with that assessment, for AMD/ATI to stay in the game they need to come out with a competitive CPU _and_ a competitive GPU, whilst not loosing any more money etc. I just can't see them managing all of that...

shadow12 · 30th Apr 2008, 12:23

I hope they do manage to hang in there. Would hate an NVIDIA/Intel monopoly. Excellent interview. Who codes in C++ any more, LOL!!!!

wuyanxu · 30th Apr 2008, 15:37

great interview. many thanks

hope nVidia can hang in there.

btw, i still program in C!

thesharper1 · 30th Apr 2008, 17:49

Interesting interview, definitely worth a read.

Incidentally shadow12, a lot of scientists, myself being one of them, program in c++ and we are the ones who desperately need more (massively parallel ) computing power and are definitely a target market for CUDA. Well we also still program in FORTRAN77 as well although its being phased out now and in High Energy Physics (my field) most new code is c++. Given that we just invested a huge amount in a switch from a 40 year old language, we'll be using c++ for some time now.

Baz · 30th Apr 2008, 18:26

You raised some key points about the competition, to which he replied with the usual coporate hyperbole of "we dont think the competition can do it." It's this dangerous over confidence that has seen microsoft leak market share to apple, yahoo leak market share to google and Sony leak market share to microsoft and Nintendo. Having lots of confidence in your own products might sound great in an interview, but his "Definatly maybe" comment shows signs that IF Intel does the feat of creating a solid graphics solution, or AMD somehow manages to turn itself around, Nvidia hasn't really planned for the future, and could find itself in a Geforce 5 series position all over again.

I think David should be a little more humble regarding the competition. It was only 4 years ago that Nvidia and Intel were getting hammered by the AMD64 and ATI 9xxx series graphics cards, and such architectural breakthroughs and performance margins arent impossible for the competition to recreate.

Tim S · 30th Apr 2008, 18:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baz

You raised some key points about the competition, to which he replied with the usual coporate hyperbole of "we dont think the competition can do it." It's this dangerous over confidence that has seen microsoft leak market share to apple, yahoo leak market share to google and Sony leak market share to microsoft and Nintendo. Having lots of confidence in your own products might sound great in an interview, but his "Definatly maybe" comment shows signs that IF Intel does the feat of creating a solid graphics solution, or AMD somehow manages to turn itself around, Nvidia hasn't really planned for the future, and could find itself in a Geforce 5 series position all over again.

I think David should be a little more humble regarding the competition. It was only 4 years ago that Nvidia and Intel were getting hammered by the AMD64 and ATI 9xxx series graphics cards, and such architectural breakthroughs and performance margins arent impossible for the competition to recreate.

You speak a lot of truth - he came across as sometimes arrogant. Obviously he knows a lot of things (about what's going on at Nvidia) that I don't know... but underestimating Intel and AMD will likely not be good. I don't think Nvidia is underestimating the competition internally though--especially after GeForceFX. To me, it smelt more like a bit of smacktalk in some respects than anything else.

I think it's interesting though, as I don't think the industry has been as open as it is now - nobody knows who will be the biggest of them all in 5-10 years. Intel and Nvidia are venturing into (relatively) new territory with the push to massive parallelism with lots of programmability, while AMD is struggling on all fronts but has experience in the territories that are set to converge.

shadow12 · 30th Apr 2008, 19:14

No you guys you got me wrong I was laughing at this:

“C++ is a great buzzword but many, many programmers don’t write C++... and for that matter, many programmers don’t even write C,”

I still write in C++, a lot of people I know (in science) still write in C/C++ (Embedded and many other variants of). If you want something done quick you write it in C/C++.

As far as massively parallel computing goes I know what you are talking about I have used Condor a few times and we just got a small 20 node cluster.

Yea CUDA looks really interesting. I wonder how long it would take to create an SVM app for CUDA.

Tim S · 30th Apr 2008, 19:27

Kirk was referring to 'scripters' rather than 'programmers' - people that just script things to make them faster. I should probably make that clearer.

shadow12 · 30th Apr 2008, 19:36

Ah I see now it makes sense.

DeX · 30th Apr 2008, 23:21

Great interview, Tim. Thanks.

Steve-0 · 1st May 2008, 00:31

I never really realized of how much an Nvidia fan site this is...

FrankieG33 · 1st May 2008, 04:22

what? this isnt a nvidia fan site. the interview's only bias was from David Kirk. im just excited to see where AMD/ATI, intel, and nvidia will take computing in these next 5 years. i just hope, like shadow said, that there isnt a intel/nvidia monopoly.

Mentai · 1st May 2008, 04:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve-0

I never really realized of how much an Nvidia fan site this is...

It is? What (in particular) makes you say that?
Also, great interview Tim

Tyinsar · 1st May 2008, 05:36

Nvidia: Buy Via & go into CPUs too!

(Either that or buy AMD and sell off ATI)

Interesting interview

Tim S · 1st May 2008, 10:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve-0

I never really realized of how much an Nvidia fan site this is...

That couldn't be farther from the truth - and you only have to look through our recent reviews to see that we've been quite critical of Nvidia's products when they miss the mark. David works for Nvidia and he oversees the design of their GPUs so he's going to have an Nvidia-slanted opinion on the way the world goes round.

I'm working on some other interviews with Intel and AMD execs that I'm sure you'll be interested in - I'm keen to provide a perspective of the next ten years in this industry from all the major angles.

wuyanxu · 1st May 2008, 11:30

oh yes please. can you ask Intel about their goal and views in ARMs with their Atom processor?

Tyinsar · 1st May 2008, 17:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankieG33

what? this isnt a nvidia fan site. the interview's only bias was from David Kirk. im just excited to see where AMD/ATI, intel, and nvidia will take computing in these next 5 years. i just hope, like shadow said, that there isnt a intel/nvidia monopoly.

Good first post - interesting that you signed up just to post a defence of the site. Welcome to the forums.

Tim S · 1st May 2008, 19:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyinsar

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankieG33

what? this isnt a nvidia fan site. the interview's only bias was from David Kirk. im just excited to see where AMD/ATI, intel, and nvidia will take computing in these next 5 years. i just hope, like shadow said, that there isnt a intel/nvidia monopoly.

Good first post - interesting that you signed up just to post a defence of the site. Welcome to the forums.

30th Apr 2008, 07:56	#1
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	Nvidia's David Kirk on CUDA, CPUs and GPUs http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...rk-interview/1 It's almost three years since we last interviewed David Kirk, Nvidia's Chief Scientist. And with everything going on in the industry right now, it was a great time to catch up with him to find out where he sees the industry going and how Nvidia will be part of that. Please digg to share, thank you for your support! __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

30th Apr 2008, 08:32	#2
BioSniper I Mod, Therefore I Own Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Somewhere in the south Posts: 3,454	Nice interview Tim, good bit of morning reading as always and its great to be kept up with just where the industry is looking at going. __________________ My Flickr :: Bit-tech Flickr Wii: 1792 1527 2926 7945 :: Xbox Live: BioSnipr :: PSN: Biosnipr

30th Apr 2008, 15:37	#5
wuyanxu quad fuelled, GTX200 powered Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: in a room near Soton Uni. UK Posts: 3,940	great interview. many thanks hope nVidia can hang in there. btw, i still program in C! __________________ Death to consolification !!!Core i7 860 @ 4Ghz Cooled by Corsair H50 // Asus P7P55D Deluxe // 8GB of Corsair Dominators @ 1528Mhz 8-8-8-24 // BFG gtx260+ OC2 MaxCore 216SP 896MB // Samsung 64GB SSD // WD Raptor 74GB + Black 1TB + Green 1TB // Corsair Hx620w // Antec p182 // Samsung 24" T240

30th Apr 2008, 19:27	#10
Tim S Pewlius Caesar bit-tech Staff Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Ascot, Berks Posts: 18,021	Kirk was referring to 'scripters' rather than 'programmers' - people that just script things to make them faster. I should probably make that clearer. __________________ Tim on Twitter \| Tim's Blog \| Tim's Flickr The bit-tech Blog \| bit-tech on Twitter \| Join the bit-tech & Custom PC folding team (#35947)

30th Apr 2008, 23:21	#12
DeX Mube Codder Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 4,103	Great interview, Tim. Thanks. __________________ Play my game: Shyguy's Cave of Death! If you dont have the time to check your spelling and grammar, you dont have the time to post! -Liquid K9

30th Apr 2008, 11:55	#3
phuzz Hypermodder Join Date: May 2004 Location: Bristol, UK Posts: 955	He's pretty harsh about AMD/ATI, but it's hard to argue with that assessment, for AMD/ATI to stay in the game they need to come out with a competitive CPU _and_ a competitive GPU, whilst not loosing any more money etc. I just can't see them managing all of that...

30th Apr 2008, 12:23	#4
shadow12 I lie Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 219	I hope they do manage to hang in there. Would hate an NVIDIA/Intel monopoly. Excellent interview. Who codes in C++ any more, LOL!!!!

30th Apr 2008, 17:49	#6
thesharper1 What's a Dremel? Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 7	Interesting interview, definitely worth a read. Incidentally shadow12, a lot of scientists, myself being one of them, program in c++ and we are the ones who desperately need more (massively parallel ) computing power and are definitely a target market for CUDA. Well we also still program in FORTRAN77 as well although its being phased out now and in High Energy Physics (my field) most new code is c++. Given that we just invested a huge amount in a switch from a 40 year old language, we'll be using c++ for some time now.

30th Apr 2008, 18:26	#7
Baz Benchmarketeer bit-tech Staff Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Ruislip Posts: 584	You raised some key points about the competition, to which he replied with the usual coporate hyperbole of "we dont think the competition can do it." It's this dangerous over confidence that has seen microsoft leak market share to apple, yahoo leak market share to google and Sony leak market share to microsoft and Nintendo. Having lots of confidence in your own products might sound great in an interview, but his "Definatly maybe" comment shows signs that IF Intel does the feat of creating a solid graphics solution, or AMD somehow manages to turn itself around, Nvidia hasn't really planned for the future, and could find itself in a Geforce 5 series position all over again. I think David should be a little more humble regarding the competition. It was only 4 years ago that Nvidia and Intel were getting hammered by the AMD64 and ATI 9xxx series graphics cards, and such architectural breakthroughs and performance margins arent impossible for the competition to recreate.

30th Apr 2008, 19:14	#9
shadow12 I lie Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 219	No you guys you got me wrong I was laughing at this: “C++ is a great buzzword but many, many programmers don’t write C++... and for that matter, many programmers don’t even write C,” I still write in C++, a lot of people I know (in science) still write in C/C++ (Embedded and many other variants of). If you want something done quick you write it in C/C++. As far as massively parallel computing goes I know what you are talking about I have used Condor a few times and we just got a small 20 node cluster. Yea CUDA looks really interesting. I wonder how long it would take to create an SVM app for CUDA.

30th Apr 2008, 19:36	#11
shadow12 I lie Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 219	Ah I see now it makes sense.

1st May 2008, 00:31	#13
Steve-0 Supermodder Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Texas middle of nowhere Posts: 302	I never really realized of how much an Nvidia fan site this is... __________________ Gigabyte X38-DS4, Q6600 @ 2.46 heh, Sapphire 3870x2 1gb crossfired with vision-tek 3870OC HD 320gb Seagate barracuda Sata 300, 4gigs Kingston hyper x DDR2@800mhz, 100gb hdd in external enclosure

1st May 2008, 04:22	#14
FrankieG33 Weekend Warrior Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Chicago Posts: 13	what? this isnt a nvidia fan site. the interview's only bias was from David Kirk. im just excited to see where AMD/ATI, intel, and nvidia will take computing in these next 5 years. i just hope, like shadow said, that there isnt a intel/nvidia monopoly. __________________ CPU: Intel E2180 Dual-Core 2.8 GHz Mobo: Gigabyte P35-DS3L RAM: 3GB (3x1GB) (dont ask) HDD: 74GB Raptor and 160 GB WD GPU: Sapphire X1950XT 256MB PSU: ENERMAX Noisetaker II 600W OS: Windows XP Pro Monitor: Acer 17" LCD Case: Thermaltake Damier V5000A

1st May 2008, 05:36	#16
Tyinsar 6 screens / 1 card Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: AB.CA Posts: 2,005	Nvidia: Buy Via & go into CPUs too! (Either that or buy AMD and sell off ATI) Interesting interview __________________ It's not about how life treats you, it's about how you treat life.

1st May 2008, 11:30	#18
wuyanxu quad fuelled, GTX200 powered Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: in a room near Soton Uni. UK Posts: 3,940	oh yes please. can you ask Intel about their goal and views in ARMs with their Atom processor? __________________ Death to consolification !!!Core i7 860 @ 4Ghz Cooled by Corsair H50 // Asus P7P55D Deluxe // 8GB of Corsair Dominators @ 1528Mhz 8-8-8-24 // BFG gtx260+ OC2 MaxCore 216SP 896MB // Samsung 64GB SSD // WD Raptor 74GB + Black 1TB + Green 1TB // Corsair Hx620w // Antec p182 // Samsung 24" T240