Gigacore
29-02-2008, 07:38 AM
Nvidia has released a Mac OS X version of its CUDA (http://www.nvidia.com/object/cuda_home.html) programming tools. Nvidia's CUDA tools help developers utilize the GPUs on newer Nvidia graphics hardware as parallel processing engines.
CUDA, or Compute Unified Device Architecture, lets programmers utilize a dedicated driver written using C language subroutines to offload data processing to the graphics processing hardware found on Nvidia's late-model GeForce graphics hardware. The software lets programmers use the cards to process data other than just graphics, without having to learn OpenGL or how to talk with the card specifically.
Supported hardware includes the GeForce 8800GT and Quadro graphics cards that are available as configure-to-order options on the Mac Pro and the new GeForce 8600M graphics chip found in Apple's recently refreshed MacBook Pro. The technology is specific to Nvidia graphics systems and doesn't work either with the ATI or Intel integrated graphics hardware found on other Mac models.
While adding support for CUDA into an application is a relatively simple process, Andy Keane, general manager of Nvidia's GPU computing business, explained that how CUDA tools can actually assist the application becomes, as he put it, "more of a computer science problem."
CUDA is not a magic bullet that will suddenly make all software on an Nvidia-equipped Mac run dramatically faster, in other words -- the programmer needs to figure out where the program can be optimized to process data in parallel. But within that context, programming support for CUDA can make a big difference, he said.
More @ Macworld (http://www.macworld.com/article/132278/2008/02/nvidia.html)
CUDA, or Compute Unified Device Architecture, lets programmers utilize a dedicated driver written using C language subroutines to offload data processing to the graphics processing hardware found on Nvidia's late-model GeForce graphics hardware. The software lets programmers use the cards to process data other than just graphics, without having to learn OpenGL or how to talk with the card specifically.
Supported hardware includes the GeForce 8800GT and Quadro graphics cards that are available as configure-to-order options on the Mac Pro and the new GeForce 8600M graphics chip found in Apple's recently refreshed MacBook Pro. The technology is specific to Nvidia graphics systems and doesn't work either with the ATI or Intel integrated graphics hardware found on other Mac models.
While adding support for CUDA into an application is a relatively simple process, Andy Keane, general manager of Nvidia's GPU computing business, explained that how CUDA tools can actually assist the application becomes, as he put it, "more of a computer science problem."
CUDA is not a magic bullet that will suddenly make all software on an Nvidia-equipped Mac run dramatically faster, in other words -- the programmer needs to figure out where the program can be optimized to process data in parallel. But within that context, programming support for CUDA can make a big difference, he said.
More @ Macworld (http://www.macworld.com/article/132278/2008/02/nvidia.html)