Supermicro updates X14 server family with Xeon 6900

“The new systems feature significant upgrades across the board, supporting a never-before-seen 256 P-cores [performance cores] in a single node, memory support up for MRDIMMs at 8,800Mtransfer/s and compatibility with next-generation SXM, OAM, and PCIe GPUs,” according to the company. “These new X14 systems include 10U and multi-node form-factors to enable support for next-generation GPUs, and higher CPU densities, and updated memory slot configurations with 12 memory channels per CPU.”

Among more than 10 variants will be GPU-optimised units, designed for large-scale AI training, large language models, generative AI and high-performance computing (HPC), with eight of the latest-generation SXM5 and SXM6 GPUs, in air-cooled or liquid-cooled configurations.

For maximum GPU flexibility, PCIe GPU types will hold up to 10 double-width PCIe 5.0 accelerator cards in a 5U chassis. “These servers are ideal for media, collaborative design, simulation, cloud gaming, and virtualisation workloads,” said Supermicro.

Gaudi 3 AI accelerators are in the pipeline: “Supermicro plans to deliver the industry’s first AI server based on the Intel Gaudi 3 accelerator hosted by Xeon 6 processors,” said Supermicro.

Eight Gaudi 3 accelerators will be available on an OAM (open accelerator module) universal baseboard, with six integrated OSFP ports, and “an open platform designed to use a community-based, open-source software stack, requiring no software licensing costs”, said the company.

A 6U X14 ‘SuperBlade’ format has been designed to get 100 servers and 200 GPUs into a rack for AI and HPC – with air cooling or direct-to-chip liquid cooling, and its X14 ‘FlexTwin’ format is intended to squeeze 24,576 performance cores in to a 48U rack – this time with direct-to-chip liquid cooling only.

At least some of the servers will be compatible with Intel’s impending Xeon 6900 processors with P-cores, its most powerful Xeons ever, and will “offer socket compatibility to support Intel Xeon 6900 series processors with E-cores in Q1 2025”, the company said.

Xeon 6900 P-cores have Intel’s AMX (advanced matrix extensions) for running AI models, including those trained with FP16 maths.

Only the new models can accommodate 6900P processors, the company told Electronics Weekly. Earlier X14 servers can only handle up to 6700E.

And, how is the ‘256 P-cores in a single node’ achieved? “Each of the 6900P CPUs can have up to 128 cores. A dual-socket server can thus have 256 cores in a single server,” explained Supermicro.

Full information, including part numbers, will be available on 24 September, Electronics Weekly has been told.