It is at least theoretically possible to build a headless "GPU" from RISC-V processors that have the vector extension (RVV). RVV had been designed to be able to run programs compiled for the SIMT execution model that most GPUs use.

This Orange Pi RV2 has a small vector unit in each core, and could be used for at least prototyping the software until more powerful chips are available.

BTW. There have also been a couple hardware startups that have been working on commercial GPUs based on RISC-V's vector extension, with their own GPU-specific instruction set extensions for texture lookup and the like.

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LeFantome 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/startup-clai...

	▲	Joel_Mckay 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		The 94% market dominance of CUDA GPUs will roast new competition for sure. RISC-V has a fragmented ISA standard, and every version is a magical unicorn part (the worst facet of ARM6.) A Standard doesn't need to be good, but must be consistent to succeed. =3

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dlcarrier 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

The vector instructions are only in four of the eight cores. There's also extra cache in those cores, but they are otherwise symmetrical to the other four.