Any EEs that can comment on at what point do we just flip the architecture over so the GPU pcb is the motherboard and the cpu/memory lives on a PCIe slot? It seems like that would also have some power delivery advantages.
If you look at a any of the nvidia DGX boards it's already pretty close.
PCIe is a standard/commodity so that multiple vendors can compete and customers can save money. But at 8.0 speeds I'm not sure how many vendors will really be supplying, there's already only a few doing serdes this fast...
Figure out how much RAM, L1-3|4 cache, integer, vector, graphics, and AI horsepower is needed for a use-case ahead-of-time and cram them all into one huge socket with intensive power rails and cooling. The internal RAM bus doesn't have to be DDRn/X either. An integrated northbridge would deliver PCIe, etc.
One possible advantage of this approach that no one here has mentioned yet is that it would allow us to put RAM on the CPU die (allowing for us to take advantage of the greater memory bandwidth) while also allowing for upgradable RAM.
Wouldn't that mean an complete mobo replacement to upgrade the GPU? GPU upgrades seem much more rapid and substantial compared to CPU/RAM. Each upgrade would now mean taking out the CPU/RAM and other cards vs just replacing the GPU
I wonder how many additional layers are required in the PCB to achieve this + how this will dramatically affect the TDP; the GPU's aren't the only components with heat tolerance and capacitance.
I love the PCIe standard is 3 generations ahead of what is actually released. Gen5 is the live version, but the team behind it is so well organized that they have a roadmap of 3 additional versions now. Love it.
I know very little about electronics design, so I always find it amazing that they keep managing to double PCIe throughput over and over. Its also probably the longest lived expansion bus at the moment.
what I don't get: why doesn't AMD just roll Gen6 out in their CPU, bifurcate it to Gen5, and boom, you have 48x2 Gen5s? same argument for gen5 bifurcated to gen4.
this would solve the biggest issue with non-server motherboards: not enough PCIe lanes.
I feel like what we really need is a GPU "socket" like we have for CPU's. And then a set of RAM slots dedicated to that GPU socket (or unified RAM shared between CPU and GPU)
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[ 3.9 ms ] story [ 51.0 ms ] threadPCIe is a standard/commodity so that multiple vendors can compete and customers can save money. But at 8.0 speeds I'm not sure how many vendors will really be supplying, there's already only a few doing serdes this fast...
Also CPUs are able to make use of more space for memory, both horizontally and vertically.
I don't really see the power delivery advantages, either way you're running a bunch of EPS12V or similar cables around.
Actually the RapsberryPi (appeared 2012) was based on a SoC with a big and powerful GPU and small weak supporting CPU. The board booted the GPU first.
An example, This is storage instead of GPU's, but as the SSD's were PCIe NVMe, it's pretty nearly the same concept: https://www.servethehome.com/zfs-without-a-server-using-the-...
But you are right, there's no hierarchy in the systems anymore. Why do we even call something a motherboard? There's a bunch of chips interconnected.
I wonder what modulation order / RF bandwidth they'll be using on the PHY for Gen8. I think Gen7 used 32GHz, which is ridiculously high.
Obviously PCI is not just about gaming but...
Being less sarcastic, I would ask if 6.0 mobos are on the horizon.
this would solve the biggest issue with non-server motherboards: not enough PCIe lanes.
https://archive.is/oa81K