In a recent development that has sent ripples through the tech world, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has provided a tantalizing glimpse into its future plans with the announcement of the next-generation Instinct MI400 accelerator series.
Building on the foundation laid by the recently unveiled Instinct MI300 series, this upcoming lineup is set to push the boundaries of data center acceleration even further.
The Instinct MI300 series, a fusion of CDNA3 and Zen4 architectures, has already made a significant impact in the tech landscape. A standout within this series is the MI300X, a GPU-only accelerator that boasts an impressive 192GB of HBM3 memory.
Tailored to meet the demands of large language models (LLMs) that require substantial memory capacity and bandwidth, the MI300X has carved a niche for itself.
One of the standout features of the MI300 series is its adaptability, achieved through innovative die stacking technology. The MI300X shares the chiplet architecture with its counterpart, the MI300A, a data center APU that seamlessly integrates Zen 4 CPU cores and CDNA3 GPU cores within a single package.
Targeting high-performance computing (HPC) and AI workloads, the MI300A benefits from a unified memory architecture and includes a substantial 128GB of HBM3 memory.
The anticipation surrounding AMD’s future offerings has only been fueled by hints and teasers about the next step in their accelerator journey—the Instinct MI400 series. Building upon the success and innovation of its predecessors, the MI400 is projected to be a high-end data center accelerator series, possibly leveraging the CDNA4 architecture.
While exact SKU details remain shrouded in secrecy, AMD’s CEO, Dr. Lisa Su, confirmed the company’s commitment to the upcoming MI400 series during the Q2 earnings call. Despite withholding specific details, Dr. Su conveyed her confidence in AMD’s competitive and capable hardware roadmap, citing the evolving discussion around the company’s software roadmap as well.
“The discussion about AMD, frankly, has always been about the software roadmap, and we do see a bit of a change here on the software side,” stated Dr. Lisa Su, CEO of AMD.
The Instinct MI400 will mark the fifth generation of AMD’s accelerator series, continuing the departure from the Radeon branding—a move that gained further traction with the MI300 series.
This shift began with the MI200 series, which was based on the Arcturus architecture and has already been commercially deployed. The upcoming MI300 (codenamed Aldebaran) is expected to continue along this trajectory.
Rumors swirling around the MI400 suggest that it might integrate a new XSwitch interconnect technology. If true, this innovation could potentially position AMD in a more competitive stance against products based on NVIDIA’s NVLink interconnect technology.
As the tech world eagerly awaits further updates and concrete specifications about the Instinct MI400 series, one thing remains clear: AMD is steadfastly committed to pushing the envelope of data center acceleration, bringing enhanced capabilities and performance to the forefront of the industry.
Source: SeekingAlpha, SemiAnalysis
