~/AVX512 Instruction Set Overview

Jul 16, 2019

AVX512 is an Intel SIMD instruction set extension available in certain Intel x86 CPUs. It allows processing of eight 64bit data or sixteen 32bit data in a single instruction, increasing computational throughput. AVX512 provides masked operations, wider registers, and expanded instructions for math, logic, and data manipulation.

Key points

• 512bit ZMM registers (32 ZMM registers in some chips, 16 in others)
• Mask registers enable selective operations
• Instructions support integer and floating point operations

Example SIMD addition in AVX512 intrinsics:

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#include <immintrin.h>
__m512 x = _mm512_set1_ps(1.0f);
__m512 y = _mm512_set1_ps(2.0f);
__m512 sum = _mm512_add_ps(x, y);

Benefits

• Increased parallelism for workloads like AI or scientific computing
• Faster vectorized processing in supported software

Limitations

• Not all CPUs support AVX512
• Higher power usage and frequency scaling issues in some implementations

Check your CPU using:

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cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep avx512

AVX512 accelerates data processing but only benefits code compiled or written to use it. For more, read the official developer guide.