Dynamic 3D graphics workload characterization and the architectural implications

Although PC-class 3D graphics hardware has made significant strides in the last several years, the underlying architectural design principles are still generally considered as a black art. The quantitative approach prevalent in mainstream computer architecture design is rarely applied, at least as far as publicly available research literature is concerned. One main reason for this deficiency is the absence of a detailed workload characterization of 3D applications. This paper reports the results of a dynamic 3D workload characterization effort, which focuses on interactive 3D applications spanning multiple frames. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first such studies that have ever been attempted. In addition, whenever possible, this paper presents the empirical workload characteristics in the light of their architectural implications and detailed design tradeoffs. In particular, the paper discusses quantitatively the extent to which the workload impacts graphics architecture features such as rasterization pipeline, frame buffer design, texture memory management and system bus design.