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Ray-Tracing on mobile is still in its infancy. However, ARM has just taken a leap forward on the subject by presenting its new GPU: the Immortalis G715.
Nvidia is obviously not the only one interested in Ray-Tracing, which makes it possible to benefit from a much more realistic light management in video games. ARM is also in the game and has just presented a mobile GPU capable of supporting it: the Immortalis G715.
The Immortalis-G715 benefits from the management of Ray-Tracing. © ARM
This is not a first in the industry since Samsung and AMD have already worked together on the subject with the Exynos 2200 – the experience has not proved very convincing. That said, ARM intends to democratize this technology more aggressively on the mobile and tablet market, in particular because it is based on a hardware solution and not software, as is the case with the competition.
During the presentation, on June 28, 2022, the firm clarified that this GPU is manufactured on a similar basis to the latest versions of Mali that it has been marketing for years. The Immortalis-G715 can also count on 10 to 16 cores depending on the configuration, and is supposed to offer up to 15% more performance compared to the latest generation of Mali GPUs.
Two new models in this range were also presented in stride: the Mali G-615 (6 cores) and the Mali G-715 (7 to 9 cores). The three new chips support VRS (Variable Rate Shading) which relieves the GPU by dynamically managing the quality of the areas of the displayed image.
Overcome technical constraints
Owners of compatible graphics cards know that Ray-Tracing is particularly resource-intensive. ARM is aware of this and promises to have controlled consumption by having reduced the dedicated surface on the SoC. A point that will be crucial to address, because it weighs heavily on the autonomy of the smartphone.
The Immortalis-G715 takes up only 4% of the shader core area, while delivering performance improvements of over 300% through hardware acceleration.
Unsurprisingly, the brand has announced that it is working with graphics engine teams such as Unity or Real Engine, by participating in optimization through the rapid implementation of new adapted drivers.
ARM unveiled three SoCs during its presentation. © ARM
The technology may be in its infancy, but ARM has decided to be proactive on the subject, “convinced that Ray-Tracing represents a paradigm shift in mobile game content”. It remains to be seen how developers will take hold of this technology in the coming years.
In fact, the first smartphones equipped with an Immortalis GPU could see the light of day in early 2023. An agreement has already been signed with MediaTek. The firm promises to show “interesting experiences on mobile platforms” during the year.