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Looking to Buy NVIDIA H100 GPUs? Here's Everything You Need to Know Before You Decide

The NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPU, particularly in its SXM form, is one of the most powerful GPUs designed for AI, high-performance computing (HPC), and data analytics.


"Get in touch if you are having trouble finding available NVIDIA H100 GPUs!"


It leverages NVIDIA's Hopper architecture, and its Tensor Cores are specifically designed to accelerate deep learning, inferencing, and high-end simulations. Below is a deep dive into its technical details, use cases, and the key differences between the various models.

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Technical Overview of NVIDIA SXM H100


The H100 Tensor Core GPU is built on a 4nm process, housing around 80 billion transistors, and supports up to 80 GB of HBM2e memory. Its SXM (Scalable Matrix) form factor provides superior bandwidth and power efficiency compared to PCIe variants.


  • Tensor Cores: The H100 contains 640 Tensor Cores designed for AI operations. They support mixed precision (FP16, BF16, TF32) and INT8/INT4 operations, providing massive acceleration for AI training and inference.


  • CUDA Cores: The H100 is equipped with 18,432 CUDA cores that allow highly parallel workloads.


  • HBM2e Memory: The SXM variant of the H100 uses 80 GB of HBM2e memory at 3.2 TB/s memory bandwidth, which makes it ideal for large models and data-intensive operations.


  • NVLink: Up to 18 NVLink connections provide high interconnect bandwidth between multiple GPUs, critical for scaling AI models across several GPUs in a cluster.


  • Multi-instance GPU (MIG): H100 introduces MIG technology that allows splitting the GPU into up to seven isolated instances, enabling better resource utilization for various users or workloads.


Use Cases for NVIDIA H100 SXM


  • AI Training and Inference: The H100 excels in both training massive AI models and executing real-time inference. Its Tensor Cores and large memory make it particularly suitable for large language models (LLMs) like GPT-4 and BERT, along with image processing networks like ResNet.


  • High-Performance Computing (HPC): H100 can handle a variety of scientific simulations such as climate modeling, astrophysics, genomics, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD).


  • Data Analytics: With its powerful CUDA cores and high memory bandwidth, the H100 can process massive datasets for real-time analytics, graph processing, and recommendation systems.


  • Deep Learning Research: The SXM form factor, with its high NVLink bandwidth and memory capacity, makes it perfect for deep learning researchers who want to experiment with next-generation AI models.


Key Differences Between NVIDIA H100 Models


NVIDIA H100 comes in both SXM and PCIe form factors, with differences in memory, bandwidth, and cooling systems. Here’s a breakdown:

Feature

H100 SXM

H100 PCIe

Memory

80 GB HBM2e

80 GB HBM2e

Memory Bandwidth

3.2 TB/s (SXM)

2.0 TB/s (PCIe)

CUDA Cores

18,432

16,896

Tensor Cores

640

512

PCIe Connectivity

NVLink 4.0 (900 GB/s)

PCIe 5.0 (64 GB/s)

Form Factor

SXM4 (SFF 4U)

PCIe Gen5 (full-height, dual-width)

Cooling

Liquid/Air cooling for data centers

Air-cooled, typical PCIe servers

Power Consumption

700W (configurable TDP)

350W

NVIDIA H100 SXM (Scalable Matrix Extension) Model


  • High Bandwidth: The SXM version leverages HBM2e memory with a staggering 3.2 TB/s bandwidth—this is critical for workloads that are memory bandwidth-intensive, like AI training on massive datasets.

  • NVLink Support: Up to 18 NVLink connections (each providing 900 GB/s bandwidth), allowing you to create multi-GPU setups with ultra-low latency and high bandwidth.

  • Power: It typically consumes up to 700W, requiring more robust power and cooling infrastructure.


NVIDIA H100 PCIe Model


  • Lower Bandwidth: With PCIe Gen5, the bandwidth drops to around 2.0 TB/s, which is lower compared to the SXM version but still competitive for most PCIe workloads.

  • Air-cooled: Typically air-cooled, PCIe cards are easier to install in traditional servers without the need for specialized liquid cooling setups.

  • MIG Support: The H100 PCIe variant supports Multi-Instance GPU (MIG), similar to the SXM variant, but fewer instances can be created due to fewer CUDA and Tensor cores.


NVIDIA H100 Cooling Systems


NVIDIA H100 supports two types of cooling systems depending on the model:


  • Liquid Cooling (SXM): Liquid cooling is often necessary for the SXM version, especially when running at its full 700W power draw. This type of cooling is more efficient and necessary for data centers where space is limited, and thermal efficiency is critical.


  • Air Cooling (PCIe): Air cooling is supported for both SXM and PCIe models, though it’s more common in PCIe form factors. Air cooling is simpler but less efficient for power-intensive models like the SXM H100.


Choosing the Right Model: SXM vs PCIe


  • When to Choose SXM:

    • If you need extreme performance for AI, deep learning, or HPC.

    • If your data center has NVLink infrastructure, and you need multi-GPU scaling.

    • If your workload is memory bandwidth-bound and requires 3.2 TB/s bandwidth.

    • If liquid cooling is available and feasible in your setup.


  • When to Choose PCIe:

    • If your setup uses standard PCIe-based servers.

    • If your workloads are compute-bound and don't require extreme memory bandwidth.

    • If you prefer air-cooled systems for simplicity or have power constraints.

    • If you want a solution that consumes less power (~350W), potentially lowering overall cooling and energy costs.


Conclusion


The NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPU, in both SXM and PCIe forms, is built for demanding AI, HPC, and data analytics tasks. The SXM version is ideal for data centers needing high memory bandwidth and NVLink support, while the PCIe version offers flexibility for more traditional server setups.


When deciding between the two, think about your power, cooling, and bandwidth requirements. Both versions offer 80GB of HBM2e memory, but the SXM version is better suited for memory-heavy workloads.

 
 

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