diff --git a/example/hello_world.cpp b/example/hello_world.cpp
index 492d64316..d6525f57f 100644
--- a/example/hello_world.cpp
+++ b/example/hello_world.cpp
@@ -15,12 +15,12 @@
 
 int main()
 {
-    // get the default GPU device
-    boost::compute::device gpu =
-        boost::compute::system::default_gpu_device();
+    // get the default device
+    boost::compute::device device =
+        boost::compute::system::default_device();
 
     // print the GPU's name
-    std::cout << "hello from " << gpu.name() << std::endl;
+    std::cout << "hello from " << device.name() << std::endl;
 
     return 0;
 }
diff --git a/include/boost/compute/system.hpp b/include/boost/compute/system.hpp
index d9f894911..cbc4e2994 100644
--- a/include/boost/compute/system.hpp
+++ b/include/boost/compute/system.hpp
@@ -31,10 +31,21 @@ class system
     static device default_device()
     {
         // check for device from environment variable
-        const char *name = std::getenv("BOOST_COMPUTE_DEFAULT_DEVICE");
-        if(name){
-            device device = find_device(name);
-            if(device.id()){
+        const char *name     = std::getenv("BOOST_COMPUTE_DEFAULT_DEVICE");
+        const char *platform = std::getenv("BOOST_COMPUTE_DEFAULT_PLATFORM");
+        const char *vendor   = std::getenv("BOOST_COMPUTE_DEFAULT_VENDOR");
+
+        if(name || platform || vendor){
+            BOOST_FOREACH(const device &device, devices()){
+                if (name && !matches(device.name(), name))
+                    continue;
+
+                if (platform && !matches(device_platform(device).name(), platform))
+                    continue;
+
+                if (vendor && !matches(device.vendor(), vendor))
+                    continue;
+
                 return device;
             }
         }
@@ -80,7 +91,7 @@ class system
     static device find_device(const std::string &name)
     {
         BOOST_FOREACH(const device &device, devices()){
-            if(device.name() == name){
+            if(device.name().find(name) != std::string::npos){
                 return device;
             }
         }
@@ -141,6 +152,15 @@ class system
         clGetPlatformIDs(0, 0, &count);
         return static_cast<size_t>(count);
     }
+
+private:
+    static platform device_platform(const device &device) {
+        return platform( device.get_info<cl_platform_id>(CL_DEVICE_PLATFORM) );
+    }
+
+    static bool matches(const std::string &str, const std::string &pattern) {
+        return str.find(pattern) != std::string::npos;
+    }
 };
 
 } // end compute namespace