Huawei, through its subsidiary HiSilicon, launches a series of promising 7nm based on ARM v8, which include up to 64 cores and support leading technologies like PCIe 4.0. Now at least one chip model is used in desktop systems. Chinese YouTube channel purchased and tested such a system with Kunpeng 8 ARM v8 7-core 920-thread 8nm chip and Huawei D920S10 motherboard.
The video gives us a first glimpse of new products emerging from Huawei's recent entry into the market as a chip supplier for desktop PC OEMs in China. Such systems could help China reduce its dependence on Western semiconductor technology. However, in many ways the system demonstrates the difficulties the country has faced, especially in the area of software. The video doesn't provide too much food for thought in terms of popular test suites, but it does provide some interesting details.
Most of the video is devoted to problems with the software. Due to the ARM architecture, the Kunpeng system runs a 64-bit Chinese-made UOS operating system, which is a modified version of Linux. The author of the video noted that the UOS operating system works well, has an intuitive interface and even supports 4K resolution at 60 Hz through the Yeston RX550 graphics card. However, you had to pay an additional 800 yuan (~$115) to access the app store. In addition, the choice of programs is very limited - in particular, there is no support for 32-bit software.
The system completed the Blender BMW test render in 11 minutes 47 seconds, much longer than with most current processors. The computer plays 4K streaming video well, but local video playback was poor and stuttered. In fact, the system is best suited for light office work.
The author of the video purchased the system for 7500 yuan (about $1060). The computer is equipped with an eight-core processor Kunpeng 920 2249K @ 2,6 GHz, soldered to the motherboard. This chip can offer 128KB L1 cache (64KB + 64KB), 512KB L2 and 32MB L3. The Huawei D920S10 motherboard has four DIMM slots, but the system has only 16 GB of Kingston DDR4-2666 memory (8 GB modules in two slots). Despite the declared support of the PCIe 4.0 interface by the processor, only three PCIe 3.0 slots are available (X16, X4, X1). Also worth mentioning are 6 SATA III ports, two M.2 slots, two USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, a VGA output, a gigabit Ethernet connector, and some kind of optical network port. Finally, there is a 256 GB SATA drive, a 200 W power supply, a Yeston RX550 graphics card, and an optical drive.
The key problem now is not even in relatively low performance, but in an underdeveloped software ecosystem. Another problem looming in front of Huawei is the inability to renew contracts for the production of chips at TSMC's advanced facilities.
According to IC Insights, Chinese manufacturers now cover only 6,1% of the country's total demand for semiconductor chips. According to analysts' forecasts, by 2025, China will not reach the stated goal of 70% of domestic chip production, and will only be able to achieve a share of 20-30%. One way or another, progress is observed, albeit relatively weak.
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Source: 3dnews.ru