Ampere in the Oven: Nvidia Cooks up 'World's Largest Graphics Card'

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By Niels Broekhuijsen
published

But the recipe is still a secret.

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

In just two days, Nvidia is expected to unveil its next-gen graphics architecture, Ampere. Technically, Nvidia hasn't confirmed this, but it told us to "Get Amped" for its GTC keynote coming on May 14. 

Today, Nvidia uploaded a video to YouTube showing CEO Jensen Huang cooking up something spicy (the video is unlisted at the moment, so kudos go to Andreas Schilling for spotting it):

What’s Jensen been cooking? - YouTube
Watch On

In the brief clip, Jensen wants to show us something and pulls it out of the oven while the cameraman is hardly able to contain his laughter.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen, what we've got here is the world's largest graphics card," the exec says. 

There's little point in speculating at this point, but this is almost certainly an Ampere-based Tesla graphics card packed with eight GPUs and tied together with an NVLink interconnect. We suspect the GPUs are Nvidia A100s, which haven't been formally announced but are expected to succeed the Pascal-based P100 and Volta-based V100.

Niels Broekhuijsen
Niels Broekhuijsen

Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.

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11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Deicidium369
    Admin said:
    An Nvidia video appears to tease the Ampere graphics architecture ahead of the GTC keynote.

    Ampere in the Oven: Nvidia Cooks Up 'World's Largest Graphics Card' : Read more
    Uh thats one of the system boards in the Nvidia HGX-2 systems. You know that thing that has been sold for years. The format of the GPU is SXM3 - and companies can use that format (Habana and Nvidia are the 2 biggest users of that format) from both Nvidia and Inspur.
    https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/data-center/dgx-2/
    https://www.servethehome.com/nvidia-tesla-a100-hgx-2-edition-shows-updated-specs/
    https://www.servethehome.com/inspur-nf5488m5-review-a-unique-8x-nvidia-tesla-v100-server/
    https://www.dihuni.com/shop/servers/gpu-servers-for-iot-ai-machine-learning-and-scientific-applications/dihuni-optiready-supermicro-sys-9029gp-tnvrt/
    https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/data-center/v100/
    Reply
  • jitteRs
    That grunt gets me every time lol
    Also, why did they disable the comments?
    Reply
  • bit_user
    Deicidium369 said:
    Uh thats one of the system boards in the Nvidia HGX-2 systems.
    Looks like it, but how do you know it's not a new generation?

    Deicidium369 said:
    The format of the GPU is SXM3
    Where do you see that? The V100 datasheet only lists SMX2. SMX3 sounds like next-gen, unreleased stuff.

    Deicidium369 said:
    and companies can use that format (Habana and Nvidia are the 2 biggest users of that format) from both Nvidia and Inspur.
    AFAIK, SMX and SMX2 are Nvidia-proprietary form factors. I don't believe Habana uses it, but feel free to prove me wrong.

    I'm not saying they don't use a similar mezzanine card format, but I don't believe it's SMX-based.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    jitteRs said:
    Also, why did they disable the comments?
    Have you ever read Youtube comments?

    It would just be a cesspool of nvidia haters and even nvidia fanboys that reflect poorly on the company, its products, and its userbase.

    Moreover, this product is almost certainly not even aimed at gamers, who would comprise the vast majority of commenters. So, most comments would be irrelevant, at best.
    Reply
  • MasterMadBones
    Wait, that's not a leather jacket. This man is an imposter!
    Reply
  • bit_user
    It just occurred to me why he had it in the oven. It must run so hot that he put it in an oven to cool it down!
    Keep in mind that its predacessor, the DGX-1, clocked in at 3.5 kW.

    https://www.nvidia.com/content/dam/en-zz/Solutions/Data-Center/dgx-1/dgx-1-print-infographic-738238-nvidia-web.pdf
    Reply
  • bit_user
    As for calling it "the world's largest graphics card", I say it doesn't qualify as a graphics card unless it can run all the same software as a conventional graphics card. So, if it truly is a single graphics card, then let's see some gaming benchmarks!

    Gaming benchmarks, or it's not a graphics card!
    Reply
  • watzupken
    I don't know man, but I find Jen getting more and more cheesy of late. First, the naming convention of "Super" on the graphic card refresh, then now this teaser of him taking a GPU out of the oven.
    Reply
  • watzupken
    MasterMadBones said:
    Wait, that's not a leather jacket. This man is an imposter!
    Probably too warm to wear a leather jacket in front of the oven. Otherwise, the heat may melt his precious leather jacket, so he is not wearing it. He should at least put on an apron to add to cheesiness.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    watzupken said:
    Probably too warm to wear a leather jacket in front of the oven. Otherwise, the heat may melt his precious leather jacket, so he is not wearing it.
    Wait, you think the oven was actually on?

    watzupken said:
    He should at least put on an apron to add to cheesiness.
    Yes. Leather jacket + apron would be more appropriate. Chef's hat would be the finishing touch, but I'm willing to overlook that one in a pandemic.
    Reply