Intel's Sandy Bridge Architecture Exposed
by Anand Lal Shimpi on September 14, 2010 4:10 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- Intel
- Sandy Bridge
Sandy Bridge Media Engine
Sitting alongside the GPU is Sandy Bridge’s Media processor. Media processing in SNB is composed of two major components: video decode, and video encode.
The hardware accelerated decode engine is improved from the current generation: the entire video pipeline is now decoded via fixed function units. This is contrast to Intel’s current design that uses the EU array for some video decode stages. As a result, Intel claims that SNB processor power is cut in half for HD video playback.
The video encode engine is a brand new addition to Sandy Bridge. Intel is being light on the details of the encoder but we saw a demo where Intel took a ~3 minute 1080p 30Mbps source video and transcoded it to a 640 x 360 iPhone video format. The total process took 14 seconds and completed at a rate of roughly 400 frames per second.
Given Intel’s close relationship with many software vendors who work on video transcoding, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw decent support for SNB’s video encoding engine at launch. At 400 fps we’re well in the realm of high end GPU encoding performance, despite being run on a 3mm^2 piece of the Sandy Bridge die.
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beginner99 - Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - link
AMD's been taking about fusion forever but I can't get rid of the feeling that this Intel implementation will be much more "fused" than the AMD one will be. AMD barley has CPU turbo so adding a comined cpu/gpu turbo at once, maybe they can pull it off but experience makes me doubt that very much.BTW, if it takes like 3mm^2 for a super fast video encoder I ask my self, why wasn't this done before?
duploxxx - Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - link
first or not, doesn't really matter.who says AMD need's GPU turbo? If Liano really is a 400SP GPU it will knock any Intel GPU with or without turbo.
If we see the first results of Anadtech review which seems to be a GT2 part it doesn't have a chance at all.
core i5 is really castrated due to lack of HT, This is exactly where liano will fight against, with a bit less cpu power.
B3an - Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - link
Even if AMD's GPU in Liano is faster, intels GPU is finally decent and good enough for most people, but more importantly more people will care about CPU performance because most users dont play games and this GPU can more than easily handle HD video. And i'm sure SB will be faster than anything AMD has. Then throw in the AVX and i'd say Intel clearly have a better option for the vast majority of people, it just comes down to price now.B3an - Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - link
Sorry, didnt mean AVX, i meant the hardware accelerated video encoding.bitcrazed - Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - link
But it's not just about raw power - it's about power per dollar.If you've got $500 to spend on a mobo and CPU, where do you spend it? On a slower Intel platform or on a faster AMD platform?
If AMD get their pricing right, they could turn this into a no-brainer decision, greatly increasing their sales.
duploxxx - Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - link
now here comes the issue with the real fanboys:"And i'm sure SB will be faster than anything AMD has."
It's exactly price where AMD has the better option. It's people " known brand name" that keeps them at buying the same thing without knowledge... yeah lets buy a Pentium.
takeulo - Wednesday, September 15, 2010 - link
hahahahah yeah i agree AMD is the better option at all if i have the high budget i'll go for Insane i mean Intel but since im only "poor" and i cant afford it so i'll stick to AMD and my money worth itsorry for my bad english XD
MySchizoBuddy - Monday, December 20, 2010 - link
how do you know Intel GPU has reached good enough state (do you have benchmarks to support your hypothesis). they have been trying to reach this state for as long as i can remember.your good enough state might be very different that somebodies else's good enough state.
bindesh - Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - link
Your all doubts will be cleared after watching this video, and related once.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqBk0uHrxII&fea...
I am having 3 AMDs and 1 Intel, Believe me with the price of AMD CPUs, i can only get a celeron in Intel. Which cannot run NFS SHIFT. Or TIme Shift. But other hand, with AMD athlon, i have completed Devil May Cry 4 with decent speed. And the laptop costs 24K, Toshiba C650, psg xxxxx18 model. It has 360 GB SSD, ATI 4200HD.
Can you get such price and performance with Intel?
Best part is that i am running it with 800MHz cpu speed, with performance much much greater than 55K intel dual core laptop of my friend.
vlado08 - Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - link
Still no word ont the 23.976 FPS play back?