It is well known that NVIDIA has been working with the ARM architecture, and in fact they have “superchips” with “Grace” CPU and “Hopper” GPU for the AI and data center ecosystem. Now those in green have hinted that if they see the opportunity, they could enter the server market offering their Grace CPUs, which would compete with Intel and AMD in this segment as well.
Currently, the server CPU market is dominated by Intel's Xeon processors and AMD's EPYC, and except for a few isolated cases, almost all data centers are powered by one or the other. Perhaps that is why NVIDIA has hinted that “if they see the opportunity” they could enter this segment, because the truth is that there is not much of a gap to enter…
NVIDIA's ARM-based Grace CPUs for servers
In order to be able to offer the widest range of possibilities possible, NVIDIA offers both CPU and GPU in a single package and just CPU but in a 2-chip package. However, doing this greatly limits the number of potential customers they could have, as they will be somewhat forced to use NVIDIA's Hopper architecture or two CPUs when they may only need one.
However, the news is that NVIDIA also plans to offer its high-end Grace CPUs individually, and this is a great thing because, as you well know, what reaches the server market often ends up in the consumer market as well.
NVIDIA's current GPU roadmap shows that the company wants to expand its Superchip design into CPU and GPU packages with more modern architectures, so they're not going to stay stuck on Hopper. Some are speculating that at the next GTC there will be a surprise announcement that the company will introduce the Grace CPU (or even its successor) to the segment, independently.
By the way, we haven't said it yet, NVIDIA's Grace CPUs offer a total of 144 cores, 72 ARM Neoverse V2 per chip, supporting up to 960 GB of RAM LPDDR5X with up to 1 TB/s of raw bandwidth and with a combined consumption that reaches 500W. It also incorporates a total of 117 MB of L3 cache and 58 PCIe 5.0 lanes, all with TSMC's 4N manufacturing process.
NVIDIA in the CPU market, and why not?
The truth is that offering a standalone CPU could be quite a game-changer for NVIDIA; They have actually been well immersed in the market focused on Artificial Intelligence for quite some time, so they cannot be blamed for not having experience in the market, although it is true that until now their experience in it is limited to the professional market. .
We have often told you that the appearance of a new contender that disputes the hegemony of those who have supremacy in any segment of the market is always good, and in this case NVIDIA would compete with both Intel and AMD, initially in the server segment but who knows, these things often also end up in the consumer market, which is the one that directly affects us users. In fact, there are rumors that indicate that NVIDIA could consider entering the consumer market with ARM architecture by 2025, although we will see.
It is a fact that Apple has already successfully switched to the ARM architecture, and it is well known that Microsoft has been tinkering with it for some time. The end of the x86 architecture may be closer than it seems and if ARM is the future of PC computing, then it wouldn't be bad to have NVIDIA fighting for the throne with Intel and AMD, wouldn't it?