Question Sandy Bridge and OpenCL 1.1

[Lusiek]

Hello, I'm new to the forum and I have a question. I have laptops with i7-2670QM and i7-2720QM CPUs. I've read a bit about OpenCL and I'm wondering if I've installed OpenCL drivers and have information that I have FULL_PROFILE with 1 device available (CPU), does it give me some boost? I'm not a programmer, I want to know if it's useful to me? Thank you

 

[Eximo]

OpenCL is a programming language intended for heavy multicore processing. Typically it is used with GPUs because they are essentially large arrays of purpose built processing cores. Normally used for graphics rendering, but they can also be repurposed for other work. Open CL is not limited to GPUs though, the code can be run CPUs, just not usually as efficiently.

Having it installed won't really hurt anything, but it also isn't going to magically make your computer faster unless you have programs with OpenCL code. Your typical driver installs should install Open CL if it is compatible.

Intel HD 3000 does support 1.1.

 

[LinuxDevice]

Short answer: Only applications compiled and coded to use OpenCL can benefit from the GPU. However, like @Eximo said, it won't hurt.

Not all programming types benefit from a GPU. Programs which do a massive number of the same math on a large set of data do tend to benefit. The obvious examples include graphics where you might need to do things like apply a shader model to every pixel of a display. Computer vision and depth mapping are similar and can also use GPU help. Some audio, especially synthesis of voices, also benefit. None of them would use the GPU though unless programming says to use it.