Loongson unveils 9A1000 GPU with RX 550-level performance and 40 TOPS AI power

Loongson Technology has finally completed its first GPGPU chip, the 9A1000. The company confirms that it will complete tape-out this year, though the success of the new GPU will depend on post-tape-out test results. The new domestically produced GPU is positioned as an entry-level graphics card with AI acceleration capabilities.

The GPU core of the new chip has been upgraded to support the OpenGL 4.0 and OpenCL ES 3.2 APIs. The graphics pipeline is also doubled, while the clock speed increases by 25 percent. The stream processor area of the chip is reduced by 20 percent, with power consumption dropping by 70 percent under light loads. The performance capabilities of the GPU are estimated to rival those of the AMD Radeon RX 550. AI computing power is expected to reach 40 TOPS.

The 9A1000 GPU's scale is quadrupled compared to the 2K3000, delivering a 5x performance improvement. The integrated graphics of the new GPU also perform 4x better than the integrated LG200 graphics in the 2K3000 processor. The chip's AI performance is slightly below AMD's XDNA 2 NPU (which has a computing power of about 50 TOPS). This performance improvement represents a milestone as Loongson's first dedicated graphics card.

There are other GPUs in the pipeline, such as the 9A2000, which is currently in development and is claimed to be 10 times faster than the 9A1000. The 9A2000 GPU is also expected to match the RTX 2080 in terms of performance, which is no small feat coming from a relatively new company. The 9A3000 is planned as a follow-up to the 9A2000, but its specifications have not yet been disclosed.

Loongson is part of a growing Chinese graphics card industry alongside Biren, Moore Threads, and Lisuan Technology. Many Chinese GPU startups have failed and ceased operations, underscoring the difficulty of building and designing a GPU from scratch. The 9A1000 targets a different market segment than the Lisuan G100, another GPU that is expected to compete with the RTX 4060. The 9A1000 has been under development since 2023.