Sep 10, 2024 21:00:00

AMD is developing a new GPU architecture called 'UDNA' to compete with NVIDIA's CUDA

At

the International Consumer Electronics Exhibition (IFA 2024) being held in Berlin, Germany from September 6, 2024, AMD announced that it is developing an architecture called ' UDNA ' that can be used for both consumer GPUs and data center GPUs. This will achieve integration similar to NVIDIA's CUDA ecosystem, making it possible to run applications anywhere, from laptops to data centers.

AMD announces unified UDNA GPU architecture — bringing RDNA and CDNA together to take on Nvidia's CUDA ecosystem | Tom's Hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/amd-announces-unified-udna-gpu-architecture-bringing-rdna-and-cdna-together-to-take-on-nvidias-cuda-ecosystem

AMD reveals plans to unify its data center and consumer GPU architectures - SiliconANGLE

https://siliconangle.com/2024/09/09/amd-reveals-plans-unify-data-center-consumer-gpu-architectures/

AMD to Unify Gaming 'RDNA' and Data Center 'CDNA' into 'UDNA': Singular GPU Architecture Similar to NVIDIA's CUDA | TechPowerUp
https://www.techpowerup.com/326442/amd-to-unify-gaming-rdna-and-data-center-cdna-into-udna-singular-gpu-architecture-similar-to-nvidias-cuda

AMD uses the ' RDNA ' architecture, which is equipped with features useful for gaming such as ray tracing, for its consumer GPUs, and the ' CDNA ' architecture, which is optimized for AI processing, for its data center GPUs.

At IFA 2024, AMD senior vice president and general manager Jack Huynh announced that in the future, AMD aims to merge CDNA and RDNA into a single microarchitecture called UNDA, rivaling NVIDIA's CUDA ecosystem.

According to Huynh, the unification of the architectures will allow AMD's engineering team to operate more efficiently. He argues that optimizing applications for a single architecture, UDNA, is easier than optimizing for two architectures, CDNA and RDNA, and will also benefit third-party developers. TechPowerUp, an overseas media outlet, explained that 'the new UDNA will enable each optimized application to run on consumer GPUs like

the Radeon RX 7900 XTX and high-end GPUs for data centers like the Instinct MI300 .'

Huynh did not disclose when CDNA and RDNA will merge.

Also, at IFA 2024, Huynh revealed that AMD will focus on low-cost GPUs in the consumer GPU market. AMD's market share in the high-end consumer GPU market is 12% , far behind rival NVIDIA's 88%. So AMD plans to increase its presence in the consumer GPU market before continuing to compete with NVIDIA in the high-end GPU market.

'At the moment, AMD's high-end GPUs are not yet well understood enough for users to adopt them over NVIDIA's,' Huynh said. 'By expanding AMD's share of the low-end GPU market, more developers will be able to optimize their games for AMD's chips, which will give AMD a stronger foothold to compete with NVIDIA in the high-end GPU market.'