System and method for temporal load balancing across GPUs

A non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing unit, cause the processing unit to load balance across multiple graphics processing units (GPUs), by performing the steps of:

• retrieving an integrated GPU (IGPU) percentage from an IGPU percentage array that designates a portion of a frame that a first GPU is to Z-render;
• determining an IGPU clip rectangle that encompasses a plurality of pixels in the frame corresponding to the IGPU percentage;
• configuring the first GPU to Z-render the portion of the frame encompassed by the IGPU clip rectangle, wherein the first GPU writes a minimum Z-value to a Z-buffer for each pixel encompassed by the IGPU rectangle;
• configuring a second GPU to render the frame using information based on the minimum Z-values included in the Z-buffer, wherein the second GPU renders all of the pixels in the frame including the plurality of pixels in the portion of the frame encompassed by the IGPU clip rectangle;
• configuring the first GPU and the second GPU to write data to a feedback array that indicates respective processing times of the first GPU and the second GPU;
• determining a new IGPU percentage based on information included in the feedback array and the IGPU percentage array;
• and
• writing the new IGPU percentage to the IGPU percentage array.

A computing device configured to load balance across multiple graphics processing units (GPUs), the computing device comprising:

• a processing unit;
• a first GPU coupled to the processing unit;
• a second GPU coupled to the processing unit and the first GPU;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processing unit that includes a software driver configured to:
• retrieve an integrated GPU (IGPU) percentage from an IGPU percentage array that designates a portion of a frame that the first GPU is to Z-render;
• determine an IGPU clip rectangle that encompasses a plurality of pixels in the frame corresponding to the IGPU percentage;
• configuring the first GPU to Z-render the portion of the frame encompassed by the IGPU clip rectangle, wherein the first GPU writes a minimum Z-value to a Z-buffer for each pixel encompassed by the IGPU rectangle;
• configuring the second GPU to render the frame using information based on the minimum Z-values included in the Z-buffer, wherein the second GPU renders all of the pixels in the frame including the plurality of pixels in the portion of the frame encompassed by the IGPU clip rectangle;
• configuring the first GPU and the second GPU to write data to a feedback array that indicates respective processing times of the first GPU and the second GPU;
• determining a new IGPU percentage based on information included in the feedback array and the IGPU percentage array;
• and
• writing the new IGPU percentage to the IGPU percentage array.