Intel 確認放棄 Rialto Bridge,直接進入 Falcon Shores 產品。

出乎意料的決策,但也凸顯 Intel 內部存在著不少問題,因為 Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics 的總經理 Jeff McVeigh 的一篇官方部落格文章中確認,將停止代號 Rialto Bridge 的 GPU 開發,至於 HPC 的 GPU 產品規劃將直接轉移到 2025 年的 Falcon Shores。

Falcon Shores 將會是一款混合型態的產品,因為在這個封裝內將會整合 GPU、CPU 與 Memory 在內;Intel 目前的 Sapphire Rapids 已經除了 CPU 外,也有部分產品是整合高速的 HBM2e 記憶體。

代號 Ponte Vecchio 的 Intel Max 系列 GPU 將會是最後一代,在 2023 與 2024 將不會有任何新產品推出或是發表。

With a goal of maximizing return on investment for customers, we will move to a two-year cadence for data center GPUs. This matches customer expectations on new product introductions and allows time to develop their ecosystems.

Building on the momentum of the Max Series GPU, our next product in the Max Series family will be the GPU architecture code-named Falcon Shores. Targeted for introduction in 2025, Falcon Shores’ flexible chiplet-based architecture will address the exponential growth of computing needs for HPC and AI. We are working on variants for this architecture supporting AI, HPC and the convergence of these markets. This foundational architecture will have the flexibility to integrate new IP (including CPU cores and other chiplets) from Intel and customers over time, manufactured using our IDM 2.0 model. Rialto Bridge, which was intended to provide incremental improvements over our current architecture, will be discontinued.

The Flex Series product family will also move to a two-year cadence. We will discontinue the development of Lancaster Sound, which was intended to be an incremental improvement over our current generation. This allows us to accelerate development on Melville Sound, which will be a significant architectural leap from the current generation in terms of performance, features and the workloads it will enable.

In addition to streamlining our roadmap, we are increasing our focus on the software ecosystem. We will be providing continuous updates for our Max Series and Flex Series products, with performance improvements, new features, expanded operating systems support and new use cases to broaden the benefits of these products.

— Jeff McVeigh, Corporate Vice President, Interim General Manager, Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics

另一方面,Intel 也不會再 2023 年發表 Lancaster Sound,也就是 Arctic Sound M 的接替者,但後續的 Melville Sound 將存在於 Intel 的產品規劃中。

至於早前與美國 Argonne National Laboratory(阿貢國家實驗室)合作的 Aurora Supercomputer 將會在 2023 年第三季完成,這個採用 60,000 顆 Max 系列 GPU 與 20,000 顆 Max 系列 CPU 的 Supercomputer 預計將可以提供 2 exaflops 的運算能力。

面對缺乏競爭力而停止開發可能是件不錯的事情,但最擔心的事情是計畫永遠趕不上變化,Falcon Shores 是否能如期在 2025 年登場,我們就繼續看下去吧。

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