| Edit Values |
| Gen9 LP µarch |
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| Arch Type | GPU |
| Designer | Intel |
| Manufacturer | Intel |
| Introduction | August 5, 2015 |
| Process | 14 nm |
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Gen9 LP (Generation 9 Low Power) is the microarchitecture for Intel's graphics processing unit utilized by Skylake-based microprocessors. Gen9 LP is the successor to Gen8 LP used by Broadwell.
Architecture
Gen9 LP presents a large departure from the Gen8 LP and previous architectures.
Key changes from Gen8 LP
- Architecture is drastically different
- Gen9 LP is composed of 3 truely independent major components: Display block, Unslice, and the Slice.
- Unslice
- Now sits on its own power/clock domain
- Capable of running at higher speeds if the situation allows (irrespective of slice clock)
- Can allow for pure fixed media alone
- Fixed-function geometry
- Higher throughput
- Tessellator AutoStrip
Block Diagram
Display
Unslice
The Unslice is one of Gen9's major components and is responsible for the fixed-function geometry capabilities, fixed-function media capabilities, and it provides the interface to the memory fabric. One of the big changes in Gen9 is that the Unslice now sits on its own power/clock domain. This change allows the Unslice to operate at its own speed provided higher on-demand performance when desired. This change has a number of other benefits such as being able to turn off the slices (one or more) when they're not used in cases where pure fixed-function media is used. Additionally, the Unslice is now capable of running at a higher clock while the slice can run at a slower clock when the scenario demands it (such as in cases where higher fixed-function geometry or memory demands occur).
Slice
