Intel has released Compute Runtime 26.40.40196.8, an update to its open-source GPU compute stack for Windows and Linux. The release continues work on Crescent Island, now known as the Intel GPU D Series, and adds support and performance changes across the runtime.
For Crescent Island, unified shared memory (USM) is enabled by default, allowing GPU kernels to access regular CPU system memory directly through C/C++ pointers. Defer backing is also enabled. Standby-mode support is being enabled with the Xe kernel driver for Battlemage and Crescent Island graphics cards.
The update includes performance optimizations for multi-queue usage and increases the usable capacity of the local-memory ring buffer. It also enables Intel’s OpenCL LEO implementation by default for Nova Lake P.
LEO, short for “Level Zero Executing OpenCL,” was introduced earlier in the year as an experimental approach. It implements OpenCL on top of the Level Zero APIs rather than relying on a separate OpenCL-to-hardware driver implementation. The release also adds a front-end copy capability and an experimental event flags extension, alongside code refactoring intended to optimize Level Zero compilation.
The full change list and downloads are available on GitHub.
Sources: Phoronix.