CES 2023: AMD Intuition MI300 Information Middle APU Silicon In Hand
Alongside AMD’s broadly anticipated shopper product bulletins this night for desktop CPUs, cellular CPUs, and cellular GPUs, AMD’s CEO Dr. Lisa Su additionally had a shock up her sleeve for the massive crowd gathered for her prime CES keynote: a sneak peak at MI300, AMD’s next-generation information middle APU that’s presently below growth. With silicon actually in hand, the fast teaser laid out the fundamental specs of the half, together with reiterating AMD’s intentions of taking management within the HPC market.
First unveiled by AMD throughout their 2022 Monetary Analyst Day again in June of 2022, MI300 is AMD’s first shot at building a true data center/HPC-class APU, combining the very best of AMD’s CPU and GPU applied sciences. As was laid out on the time, MI300 could be a disaggregated design, utilizing a number of chiplets constructed on TSMC’s 5nm course of, and utilizing 3D die stacking to position them over a base die, all of which in flip will probably be paired with on-package HBM reminiscence to maximise AMD’s out there reminiscence bandwidth.
AMD for its half isn’t any stranger to combining the skills of its CPUs and GPUs – one solely wants to take a look at their laptop computer CPUs/APUs – however up to now they’ve by no means completed so on a big scale. AMD’s present best-in-class HPC {hardware} is to mix the discrete AMD Intuition MI250X (a GPU-only product) with AMD’s EPYC CPUs, which is precisely what’s been completed for the Frontier supercomputer and different HPC initiatives. MI300, in flip, is the following step within the course of, bringing the 2 processor sorts collectively on to a single package deal, and never simply wiring them up in an MCM style, however going the total chiplet route with TSV stacked dies to allow extraordinarily excessive bandwidth connections between the varied elements.
The important thing level of tonight’s reveal was to point out off the MI300 silicon, which has reached preliminary manufacturing and is now in AMD’s labs for bring-up. AMD had beforehand promised a 2023 launch for the MI300, and having the silicon again from the fabs and assembled is a robust signal that AMD is on monitor to make that supply date.
Up Shut With MI300 (Picture Courtesy Tom’s Hardware)
Together with an opportunity to see the titanic chip in individual (or at the very least, over a video stream), the temporary teaser from Dr. Su additionally supplied a couple of new tantalizing particulars concerning the {hardware}. At 146 billion transistors, MI300 is the largest and most advanced chip AMD has ever constructed – and simply so. Although we are able to solely evaluate it to present chip designs, that is considerably extra transistors than both Intel’s 100B transistor Xeon Max GPU (Ponte Vecchio), or NVIDIA’s 80B transistor GH100 GPU. Although in equity to each, AMD is stuffing each a GPU and a CPU into this half.
The CPU aspect of the MI300 has been confirmed to make use of 24 of AMD’s Zen 4 CPU cores, lastly giving us a primary concept of what to anticipate as regards to CPU throughput. In the meantime the GPU aspect is (nonetheless) utilizing an undisclosed variety of CDNA 3 structure CUs. All of this, in flip, is paired with 128GB of HBM3 reminiscence.
In accordance with AMD, MI300 is comprised of 9 5nm chiplets, sitting on prime of 4 6nm chiplets. The 5nm chiplets are undoubtedly the compute logic chipets – i.e. the CPU and GPU chiplets – although a exact breakdown of what’s what shouldn’t be out there. An affordable guess at this level could be 3 CPU chiplets (8 Zen 4 cores every) paired with presumably 6 GPU chiplets; although there’s nonetheless some cache chiplets unaccounted for. In the meantime, taking AMD’s “on prime of” assertion actually, the 6nm chiplets would then be the bottom dies all of this sits on prime of. Primarily based on AMD’s renders, it appears to be like like there’s 8 HBM3 reminiscence stacks in play, which means round 5TB/second of reminiscence bandwidth, if no more.
With reference to efficiency expectations, AMD isn’t saying something new right now. Earlier claims have been for a >5x enchancment in AI performance-per-watt versus the MI250X, and an total >8x enchancment in AI coaching efficiency, and that is nonetheless what AMD is claiming as of CES.
The important thing benefit of AMD’s design, moreover the operational simplicity of placing CPU cores and GPU cores on the identical design, is that it’s going to enable each processor sorts to share a high-speed, low-latency unified reminiscence house. This may make it quick and simple to go information between the CPU and GPU cores, letting every deal with the points of computing that they do greatest. As properly, it will considerably simplify HPC programming at a socket stage by giving each processor sorts direct entry to the identical reminiscence pool – not only a unified digital reminiscence house with copies to cover the bodily variations, however a really shared and bodily unified reminiscence house.
AMD FAD 2022 Slide
When it launches within the later half of 2023, AMD’s MI300 is anticipated to be going up in opposition to a couple of competing merchandise. Probably the most notable of which is probably going NVIDIA’s Grace Hopper superchip, which mixes an NVIDIA Armv9 Grace CPU with a Hopper GPU. NVIDIA has not gone for fairly the identical stage of integration as AMD is, which arguably makes MI300 a extra formidable challenge, although NVIDIA’s resolution to keep up a break up reminiscence pool shouldn’t be with out benefit (e.g. capability). In the meantime, AMD’[s schedule would have them coming in properly forward of arch rival Intel’s Falcon Shores XPU, which isn’t due till 2024.
Count on to listen to an ideal deal extra from AMD about Intuition MI300 within the coming months, as the corporate will probably be keen to point out off their most formidable processor up to now.
