A Closer Look at OpenCL on the CPU: AVX and SSE

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Vincent Hindriksen looks at OpenCL on CPU extensions: AVX and SSE.

So what are the big advantage for using OpenCL on a CPU?

  • The results are on the CPU for further processing
  • CPU-code can be mixed with OpenCL – this means extra optimisation-potential when OpenCL-code is compiled
  • Specific algorithms can be processed faster because there is no PCIe-overhead
  • We still have the GPU

We saw the first two items of the list on the discussion-boards when mixing OpenCL with OpenGL was discussed. When interoperability with OpenGL-code is important, then OpenCL-on-the-CPU might not be the best strategy – as mixing with CPU-code processing on the GPU might not be the best strategy.

Hindriksen goes on to say that he expects additional extensions to surface when hybrid x86 processors actually hit the market.