Popular Chinese CPU manufacturer Loongson is set to enter the GPU segment soon. Its first chip, the 9A1000, will be taped out in the next few months.
Loongson's First GPU Is a Huge Development For Them, But It Would Barely Keep Up With AMD's Radeon RX 550
The Chinese domestic market is quickly looking for alternatives to meet the requirements of its consumers, and within the race, Loongson has decided to capitalize on the hype, as the firm announces tape-out for its debut GPU, the 9A1000, which is expected to occur within the third quarter. We'll talk about the expected performance ahead, but an important aspect to this development is that Chinese manufacturers are speeding up the process of releasing their developing computing products to the market, amid the hype of 'Made in China' equipment in segments like AI.
In a report by ITHome, it is claimed that the Loongson 9A1000 will be the company's first GPU chip from the company, and there were rumors about the next iteration, the 9A2000, but we haven't seen any end-products yet. According to what we are aware of, the 9A1000 will feature support for OpenGL 4.0/OpenCL ES 3.2 APIs, along with decent performance. The tape-out stage has brought in up to 5x performance improvement, with 70% lower power consumption under stress conditions.
While the above developments sound optimistic, the 9A1000 is claimed to barely compete with AMD's Radeon RX 550 in terms of GPU capabilities, and the AMD counterpart is almost an eight-year-old offering. For Loongson, the 9A1000 will mark their entry in the GPU segment, but in terms of competing with mainstream options, the Chinese firm will be years behind. There are future variants like the 9A2000 and 9A3000 planned as well, but we are unaware of when they could be released.
When it comes to consumer GPUs, China hasn't been in the best of places when it comes to replacing NVIDIA/AMD, but the nation has been pursuing the development of domestic solutions, like the Lisuan G100, which is the first Chinese 6nm GPU.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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