Getting Started with compute offload to Intel(R) Graphics Technology

Introduction

Intel(R) C++ Compiler 15.0 Beta Update 2 provides a feature which enables offloading general purpose compute kernels to processor graphics. This feature enables the processor graphics silicon area for general purpose computing. The key idea is to utilize the compute power of both CPU cores and GPU execution units in tandem for better utilization of available compute power.

Hardware requirements:

1. Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1285 v3 and E3-1285L v3 (Intel® C226 Chipset) with Intel® HD Graphics P4700 
2. 4th Generation Intel® Core™ Processors with Intel® Iris™ Pro Graphics, Intel® Iris™ Graphics or Intel® HD Graphics 4200+ Series 
3. 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ Processors with Intel® HD Graphics 4000/2500

Target OS requirements:

Windows* 32 and 64 bit support. Compute offload feature on Microsoft Windows 7* will only work with an active display (no locked screen). This restriction is imposed by DirectX 9 but relaxed in DirectX 11 (on Microsoft Windows 8* and Microsoft Windows 8.1*). 

Linux 64 bit:

1. Ubuntu 12.04 (Linux kernel numbers: 3.2.0-41 for 3rd generation Intel® Core™ Processors and 3.8.0-23 for 4th generation Intel® Core™ Processors)
2. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP3 (Linux kernel numbers: 3.0.76-11 for both 3rd and 4th generation Intel® Core™ Processors) 

Host OS requirements:

Windows* 32 and 64 bit, Linux 64 bit. 

Target System Environment requirements:

On Windows:

1. Intel(R) C++ Compiler 15.0 Beta Update 2 - You can download the compiler from Intel registration center after you register for either Intel(R) Parallel Studio Beta or Intel(R) System Studio Beta.
2. Intel(R) HD Graphics Driver - Download the right driver from http://downloadcenter.intel.com. 
3. Binutils package - Download and Install the binutils package from http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/open-source-downloads. Please add the path to ld.exe to "Path" environment variable. Since the offload region to processor graphics is in ELF format, you need the binutils to build and link the heterogeneous application.

On Linux:

1. Intel(R) C++ Compiler 15.0 Beta Update 2
2. Intel(R) HD Graphics Driver

You can download the above mentioned tools from Intel registration center after registering for either Intel(R) Parallel Studio Beta or Intel(R) System Studio Beta.

Testing the Build and Target environments:

On Windows:

Install Intel(R) C++ Compiler 15.0 Beta Update 2 compiler and get gfx_samples.zip from Samples folder. This zip file has a bunch of code samples which demonstrates the compute offload for processor graphics. If these code snippets build and run fine, your environment is rightly setup.

On Linux:

Install Intel(R) C++ Compiler 15.0 Beta Update 2 compiler and get gfx_samples.tar.gz from Samples folder. This zip file has a bunch of code samples which demonstrates the compute offload for processor graphics. If these code snippets build and run fine, your environment is rightly setup.