Loongson’s “chip family” is becoming increasingly complete.
Loongson Technology announced on its interactive platform that the development of its first GPGPU chip, the 9A1000, is nearly complete, with tape-out expected in the third quarter!
This means that a new “player” is about to enter the domestic GPU field.
Starting with the positioning of this chip, the 9A1000 is defined as an entry-level graphics card that supports AI acceleration, which is a very smart move. Instead of immediately targeting the high-end market, it has chosen to enter the entry-level market, which has a larger demand and relatively lower barriers, making it both pragmatic and strategically insightful.
From the performance parameters, Loongson has indeed delivered real capabilities this time.
Graphics performance has improved by more than 5 times, AI computing power reaches 40 TOPS, and it supports graphics APIs OpenGL 4.0 and OpenCL ES 3.2. Remarkably, while performance has significantly increased, the area of the stream processors has also been reduced by 20%, and light-load power consumption has decreased by 70%.
These metrics indicate that Loongson has put significant effort into energy efficiency.
Personally, I am most concerned about the AI computing power of this chip. With 40 TOPS of computing power, it is quite competitive in the entry-level market, sufficient to meet most edge computing and lightweight AI application scenarios. This also reflects Loongson’s grasp of market trends: future computing demands will inevitably be centered around AI.
Loongson’s GPU strategy appears to be gradual: first, there was the LG200 IP core integrated into the 2K3000, now the entry-level 9A1000 is launched, and there are plans for the 9A2000 and 9A3000 in the future. This step-by-step strategy is very prudent, controlling risks while accumulating experience for subsequent product iterations.
In my view, the significance of Loongson developing GPGPU lies not only in adding another domestic GPU manufacturer but more importantly, in perfecting the self-controlled computing ecosystem. The combination of CPU and GPU enables Loongson to provide a complete computing solution.
Loongson’s step is very valuable. I look forward to good news about the tape-out in the third quarter and hope that domestic GPUs can achieve greater breakthroughs soon.