AMD Instinct MI300 to be world's biggest x86 exascale APU with integrated Zen 4 CPU, CDNA 3 GPU, and shared HBM DRAM

AMD first introduced the CDNA architecture-based Instinct MI100 in 2020 as a competitor to the Nvidia A100 for accelerating high-performance computing (HPC) workloads. Later, we also saw the release of the CDNA 2-based Instinct MI200 and MI250X. Now, we are getting to know some information about the upcoming CDNA 3-based Instinct MI300 and this time, it is going to be an APU.

This information comes via AdoredTV, who seems to have sourced an internal slide detailing progress on the Instinct MI300 accelerator. According to information from the leaked slide, the Instinct MI300 will actually be an APU with a Zen 4 CPU running alongside a CDNA 3 GPU and shared HBM memory between the two. The information co-relates with an earlier leak from Komachi_Ensaka and ExecutableFix on Twitter.

@Komachi_Ensaka first tweeted about a "Big APU mode for the MI200" in December 2019 followed by @ExecuFix's tweet in September 2021 that indicated a new server socket called SF5 that supports an MI300 with a CPU. However, AMD has been envisioning the concept of a mega exascale APU with 32 CPU cores, a GPU, and stacked DRAM since 2015 and even published a paper on "Design and Analysis of an APU for Exascale Computing" in 2017.

The newly leaked slide from AdoredTV correlates well with the above information. Tape-outs for Zen 4+CDNA 3-based APUs are expected to be completed by May-end with first working silicon in labs expected by Q3. This would make it the biggest exascale x86 APU for HPC and datacenters.

While this information is likely to be true, it is not clear whether AMD would make all CDNA 3 accelerators as APUs or diversify the SKUs into GPUs and APUs. We will have to wait a few more months to find out.

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