What is ROCm?#
2023-10-16
9 min read time
ROCm is an open-source stack, composed primarily of open-source software (OSS), designed for graphics processing unit (GPU) computation. ROCm consists of a collection of drivers, development tools, and APIs that enable GPU programming from low-level kernel to end-user applications.
With ROCm, you can customize your GPU software to meet your specific needs. You can develop, collaborate, test, and deploy your applications in a free, open-source, integrated, and secure software ecosystem. ROCm is particularly well-suited to GPU-accelerated high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI), scientific computing, and computer aided design (CAD).
ROCm is powered by AMD’s Heterogeneous-computing Interface for Portability (HIP), an OSS C++ GPU programming environment and its corresponding runtime. HIP allows ROCm developers to create portable applications on different platforms by deploying code on a range of platforms, from dedicated gaming GPUs to exascale HPC clusters.
ROCm supports programming models, such as OpenMP and OpenCL, and includes all necessary OSS compilers, debuggers, and libraries. ROCm is fully integrated into machine learning (ML) frameworks, such as PyTorch and TensorFlow.
Radeon Software for Linux with ROCm#
Starting with Radeon Software for Linux® 23.20.00.48 with ROCm 5.7, researchers and developers working with Machine Learning (ML) models and algorithms can tap into the parallel computing power of the AMD desktop GPUs based on the RDNA™ 3 architecture.
A client solution built on powerful high-end AMD GPUs provides a local, private and often cost-effective workflow to develop ROCm and train ML (PyTorch) for the users who previously relied solely on cloud-based solutions.
For information about how to install ROCm on AMD desktop GPUs based on the RDNA™ 3 architecture, see Use ROCm on Radeon GPUs. For more information about supported AMD Radeon™ desktop GPUs, see Radeon Compatibility Matrices.
ROCm on Windows#
Starting with ROCm 5.5, the HIP SDK brings a subset of ROCm to developers on Windows. The collection of features enabled on Windows is referred to as the HIP SDK. These features allow developers to use the HIP runtime, HIP math libraries and HIP Primitive libraries. The following table shows the differences between Windows and Linux releases.
Component |
Linux |
Windows |
|---|---|---|
Driver |
Radeon Software for Linux |
AMD Software Pro Edition |
Compiler |
|
|
Debugger |
|
no debugger available |
Profiler |
|
|
Porting Tools |
HIPIFY |
Coming Soon |
Runtime |
HIP (Open Sourced) |
HIP (closed source) |
Math Libraries |
Supported |
Supported |
Primitives Libraries |
Supported |
Supported |
Communication Libraries |
Supported |
Not Available |
AI Libraries |
MIOpen, MIGraphX |
Not Available |
System Management |
|
|
AI Frameworks |
PyTorch, TensorFlow, etc. |
Not Available |
CMake HIP Language |
Enabled |
Unsupported |
Visual Studio |
Not applicable |
Plugin Available |
HIP Ray Tracing |
Supported |
Supported |
AMD is continuing to invest in Windows support and AMD plans to release enhanced features in subsequent revisions.
Note
The 5.5 Windows Installer collectively groups the Math and Primitives libraries.
Note
GPU support on Windows and Linux may differ. You must refer to Windows and Linux GPU support tables separately.
Note
HIP Ray Tracing is not distributed via ROCm in Linux.
ROCm release versioning#
Linux OS releases set the canonical version numbers for ROCm. Windows will follow Linux version numbers as Windows releases are based on Linux ROCm releases. However, not all Linux ROCm releases will have a corresponding Windows release. The following table shows the ROCm releases on Windows and Linux. Releases with both Windows and Linux are referred to as a joint release. Releases with only Linux support are referred to as a skipped release from the Windows perspective.
Release version |
Linux |
Windows |
|---|---|---|
5.5 |
✅ |
✅ |
5.6 |
✅ |
❌ |
ROCm Linux releases are versioned with following the Major.Minor.Patch version number system. Windows releases will only be versioned with Major.Minor.
In general, Windows releases will trail Linux releases. Software developers that wish to support both Linux and Windows using a single ROCm version should refrain from upgrading ROCm unless there is a joint release.
Windows Documentation implications#
The ROCm documentation website contains both Windows and Linux documentation. Just below each article title, a convenient article information section states whether the page applies to Linux only, Windows only or both OSes. To find the exact Windows documentation for a release of the HIP SDK, please view the ROCm documentation with the same Major.Minor version number while ignoring the Patch version. The Patch version only matters for Linux releases. For convenience, Windows documentation will continue to be included in the overall ROCm documentation for the skipped Windows releases.
Windows release notes will contain only information pertinent to Windows. The software developer must read all the previous ROCm release notes (including) skipped ROCm versions on Windows for information on all the changes present in the Windows release.
Windows Builds from Source#
Not all source code required to build Windows from source is available under a permissive open source license. Build instructions on Windows is only provided for projects that can be built from source on Windows using a toolchain that has closed source build prerequisites. The ROCm manifest file is not valid for Windows. AMD does not release a manifest or tag our components in Windows. Users may use corresponding Linux tags to build on Windows.