Arm's first Mali GPU with integrated neural accelerator has arrived, and several games, including "Sixteen Sounds of Yan Yun," are among the first to experience it.

Arm's first Mali GPU with integrated neural accelerator has arrived, and several games, including "Sixteen Sounds of Yan Yun," are among the first to experience it.

On September 8 , Arm launched its second-generation mobile computing subsystem, CSS for Mobile 2, at its annual Arm Everywhere China conference in Shanghai .

The most noteworthy change in this new platform is in the GPU .

For the first time, Arm has integrated a dedicated neural network accelerator into a Mali GPU . The newly released Mali G2-Ultra NX allows some neural graphics workloads to be completed directly within the GPU .

This isn't just something Arm is doing alone. On September 2nd , Qualcomm announced its Adreno Neural Fusion technology, which incorporates Matrix Cores specifically for AI computing into its next-generation Adreno GPUs .

Qualcomm and Arm have both incorporated dedicated neural computing capabilities into GPUs, reflecting a shift in the competitive landscape of mobile GPUs . Previously, AI computing was largely handled by dedicated NPUs within SoCs , with GPUs primarily responsible for graphics rendering. However, with the introduction of technologies like ray tracing, AI super-resolution, and frame generation into mobile games, AI is now directly integrated into graphics processing itself.

The Mali G2-Ultra NX is Arm 's response to this change.

This GPU supports three types of neural graphics technologies: NSS is mainly used for neural supersampling, NFRU is used to improve the frame rate by generating intermediate frames through AI , and NSSD combines supersampling and noise reduction for more complex scenarios such as ray tracing.

According to Arm , the Mali G2-Ultra NX can achieve up to 4x performance per watt under neural graphics workloads .

Traditional graphics performance has also improved simultaneously. Data from Arm shows that the new generation of GPUs offers up to a 14% performance improvement in non- AI game content ; combined with neural graphics technologies such as NFRU , it can support a sustained mobile gaming experience of up to 120 FPS .

This actually involves a new calculation of computing power. Mobile phones have limited power consumption and heat dissipation space, making it difficult for GPUs to infinitely increase their traditional computing scale. Compared to rendering every frame completely, reconstructing parts of the image and generating intermediate frames through neural networks allows for higher image quality and frame rates with less traditional computation.

Ultimately, it depends on whether game engine manufacturers and others will "pay the price," and Arm has already begun to fill this gap in the ecosystem.

"Light and Shadow Rebirth," jointly developed by Arm and Sumo Digital , is the first to showcase the practical effects of Mali G2-Ultra NX in neural graphics.

Tencent Games' public technology line is integrating Arm neural network technology into Magic Dawn , an AI -driven game platform , and Unity China is also natively integrating related capabilities into the Unity Engine.

Regarding the specific game, NetEase's "Sixteen Sounds of Yan Yun" is integrating Arm neural network technology into the Messiah Engine and plans to release a version supporting NSS to players this year . Zhou Keli, head of the "Sixteen Sounds of Yan Yun" engine team, stated that the game will be one of the first games to feature Arm neural network technology.

Tencent and Arm demonstrated NSSD technology in "Dark Zone: Infinite" , using neural supersampling and noise reduction to improve complex graphics scenes; Papergames' "Infinite Nikki" is also working on integrating NSS technology.

Whether Arm can help Mali G2-Ultra NX reach more Chinese manufacturers is a question the market is watching closely.

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