Intel Axes Data Center GPU Max 1350, Preps New Max 1450 for 'Different Markets'

Data Center GPU Max
Data Center GPU Max (Image credit: Intel)

Intel has effectively restructured the company's Data Center GPU Max series of compute GPUs. The chipmaker confirmed to Tom's Hardware that it has decided to eliminate the Data Center Max GPU 1350 from its product stack. However, it will introduce a newly-baked Data Center Max GPU 1450 later this year with cut-down I/O bandwidth to cater to 'different markets.' The move comes on the heels of Intel's decision to cancel its Rialto Bridge GPUs in the wake of the restructuring of its AXG graphics division

The initial Ponte Vecchio GPU lineup consisted of the Data Center Max GPU 1550, Data Center Max GPU 1350, and Data Center Max GPU 1100. Intel already launched the 1550 model in the first quarter of this year. The impending Q2 launch for the 1100 model still stands unaffected by the recent addition of the Data Center Max GPU 1450 to the product stack. However, Intel hasn't provided a specific launch date for the Data Center Max GPU 1450 yet, though we do know it will arrive this year. 

"We launched the Intel Data Center Max GPU 1550 (600W), which was initially targeted for liquid-cooled solutions only. We have since expanded our support by offering Intel Data Center Max GPU 1550 (600W) to include air-cooled solutions. 

"As a result, we are streamlining our product offerings by removing the Intel Data Center Max GPU 1350 (450W), which was geared for air-cooled solutions. We will introduce the Data Center GPU Max 1450 SKU later in 2023, which has lower IO bandwidth for different markets and will be able to use air- and liquid-cooling solutions. Rounding out our product portfolio, we will introduce the Data Center GPU Max 1100 SKU, which is a 300W PCIe card (Gen5) for broad market deployments," an Intel spokesperson told Tom's Hardware.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Header Cell - Column 0 Data Center GPU Max 1100Data Center GPU Max 1350Data Center GPU Max 1450Data Center GPU Max 1550
Form-FactorPCIeOAM?OAM
Tiles + Memory???39 + 8
Transistors???100 billion
Xe HPC Cores | Compute Units56112?128
RT Cores56112?128
512-bit Vector Engines448896?1,024
4096-bit Matrix Engines448896?1,024
Base Clock (MHz)1,000750?900
Max Dynamic Clock (MHz)1,5501,550?1,600
L1 Cache12MB48MB?64MB at 105 TB/s
L2 Rambo Cache108MB216MB?408MB at 13 TB/s
Memory48GB96GB?128GB at 3.2 TB/s
Memory Interface1024 bit??1024 bit
Memory Bandwidth (GB/s)1,228.8??3276.8
Multi-GPU IO816?16
TDP300W450W?600W

Intel hasn't yet shared the specifications for the Data Center GPU Max 1450. Nonetheless, logic implies it will be a cut-down version of the Data Center GPU Max 1550, but we haven't yet confirmed. The Data Center GPU Max 1450 will support air- and liquid-cooling solutions, and we suspect it could carry the same 450W TDP rating as the canceled 1350 model. We've reached out to Intel for further confirmation.

One crucial detail from Intel's statement is that the chipmaker has tailored the Data Center GPU Max 1450 for "different markets," which we suspect pertains to China. According to Intel, the Data Center GPU Max 1450 will arrive with reduced I/O bandwidth levels, a move that, in all likelihood, is meant to comply with U.S. regulations on GPU exports to China.

Remember, US export rules now dictate that the chip-to-chip I/O bandwidth for China-bound GPUs must be less than 600 GB/s. For instance, Nvidia modified its H100 (Hopper) GPU and rebranded it to H800 to tailor it for the now-limited Chinese market. It's reasonable to expect that the Data Center GPU Max 1450 could take a similar approach. 

Besides replacing the Data Center Max GPU 1350, Intel also expanded the cooling options for the flagship Data Center Max GPU 1550. The 600W GPU was originally only available with liquid-cooled solutions. However, Intel will now offer air cooling on the Data Center Max GPU 1550.

Intel's initial plan was to release Rialto Bridge to succeed Ponte Vecchio this year and launch Falcon Shores in 2024 to replace Rialto Bridge. However, the chipmaker has ultimately decided to jettison Rialto Bridge and push Falcon Shores to 2025. As a result, Intel will have to make do with Ponte Vecchio for at least another two years, competing against Nvidia's H100 and AMD's Instinct MI300.

Zhiye Liu
News Editor and Memory Reviewer

Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

  • TerryLaze
    Admin said:
    Intel reshuffles the company's Data Center GPU Max (Ponte Vecchio) series of compute GPUs.

    Intel Axes Data Center GPU Max 1350, Preps Max 1450 For 'Different Markets' : Read more
    Why didn't you focus on this part?!
    Potentially releasing them for home/gaming market?
    Rounding out our product portfolio, we will introduce the Data Center GPU Max 1100 SKU, which is a 300W PCIe card (Gen5) for broad market deployments," an Intel spokesperson told Tom's Hardware.
    Reply
  • jp7189
    TerryLaze said:
    Why didn't you focus on this part?!
    Potentially releasing them for home/gaming market?
    Home/Gaming? 0% chance of that happening. It literally has "Data Center" in the name, and it has 48GB HBM2e onboard putting it way outside the price point of "home" use.
    Reply
  • TerryLaze
    jp7189 said:
    Home/Gaming? 0% chance of that happening. It literally has "Data Center" in the name, and it has 48GB HBM2e onboard putting it way outside the price point of "home" use.
    But then what does broad market deployments mean?!
    Data center is not a broad market, it's a very narrow market and one that would want to have even bigger cards and not cut-down ones.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    I'm surprised they're expecting to sell any, as I'd expect pricing to be fairly uncompetitive for their performance levels. I expect most customers will be interested mainly in using them as software development vehicles. Intel's support for OpenCL is traditionally very good, so anyone looking for a fast, conformant OpenCL accelerator might also be interested.

    I wonder if Nvidia is having trouble filling all the demand for its H100, and maybe Intel is trying to capitalize on that.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    TerryLaze said:
    But then what does broad market deployments mean?!
    China, as the article explained.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    jp7189 said:
    Home/Gaming? 0% chance of that happening. It literally has "Data Center" in the name, and it has 48GB HBM2e onboard putting it way outside the price point of "home" use.
    Not just the HBM, but all the chiplets! It's nuts! Here's the Hot Chips presentation:

    https://www.anandtech.com/show/16912/hot-chips-2021-live-blog-graphics-intel-amd-google-xilinx

    As big an issue as the price would be, it's also not even a functionally-complete GPU. We're told it actually has ray tracing hardware, but lacks rasterization and a display controller.
    Reply
  • jp7189
    TerryLaze said:
    But then what does broad market deployments mean?!
    Data center is not a broad market, it's a very narrow market and one that would want to have even bigger cards and not cut-down ones.
    It's PCIe based vs SXM based. PCIe has a much broader market as it can be used with standard chassis/motherboards.
    Reply