▷ What is avx and how does it influence your processor?

We will talk about what AVX is and how it influences your processor, as well as some of its implementations. And is that of the multiple components that make up a team, few would argue that the processor is one of those that have the most impact on the team.

Inside the processor, one of the elements that has the most impact on how the component performs are the instruction sets and their implementation. Today we want to spend time with one of the most influential among current models. Go for it!

Index of contents

Instructions on our processor

Before proceeding, we think it will be helpful to define what the instructions (or all of them) are in a processor. Instructions are the most basic operation that our processor can perform with the data necessary for an action by a program or application.

The set of these and their implementation determines, both how our processor manages the information, and what programs or applications are capable of running. There are several types of instructions, but the main ones are arithmetic and logic.

What are advanced vector extensions

AVX is an acronym for Advanced Vector Extension , the name by which the instruction set that serves as an extension to the already extensive IA-32 (x86) instruction set is known. A set that Intel and AMD would begin to feed in the late nineties after seeing the light of others such as MMX or AMD64.

AVX is much more developed than its ancestors, as well as the SSE4 instruction set it replaces. It is focused on improving efficiency when performing vector calculations (mainly floating point calculations), but thanks to the implementation of an improved coding scheme and new instructions, it is able to execute code prior to its implementation, which It happened in 2011 with the Sandy Bridge and FX-Jaguar processors.

The characteristics of AVX

Bit length register extension. Image: colfaxresearch

In AVX the instructions are collected through registers in vectors from 128-bit to 256-bit in size (YMM and XMM) depending on their mode. This ensures compatibility with the SSE instruction set and you can use your own three operand encoding scheme (VEX), which is more efficient on multi-threaded processors. There are two great additions to the AVX instruction set: AVX2 and AVX-512.

• AVX2 is the longest-running since it has been applied since 2013. It brings important innovations in how the processor manages the elements found in the vectors and extends the instruction set to 256-bits in those based on AVX and SSE. AVX-512 also dates from 2013, but its implementation in home processors (Outside the Xeon and Threadripper) is somewhat more recent. It consists of a series of extensions for AVX2 operands and can operate with registers of up to 512-bits (ZMM).

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What has AVX been used for

AVX is the evolution that accompanied the instruction sets of Intel processors during the first decade of the 2000s. As natural successors of the SSE set, its applications also revolve around multimedia (mainly sound and video) and are therefore a indispensable requirement in many programs that make use of image rendering, 3D drawing, or work with sound.

AVX roadmap at Intel. Image: wikimedia commons; Lambtron

A good example of this could be Blender, which currently only supports AVX compatible processors. We have the same case with programs such as Massive for sound, or in interactive entertainment with some video games. AVX is present in the entire environment of current multimedia programs and applications.

A few final words

Although there are more variations and sets of instructions related to AVX, those named here today are the most widespread among processors of consumer electronics and therefore we have focused on them on other proposals.

We recommend reading the best processors on the market

If you have found it interesting to learn more about what AVX is and how it influences your processor within your team, we invite you to read our article on the operation of our processors. A highly recommended read for any curious interested in the subject.

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