AMD is gearing up to enhance its AI chips to compete with Nvidia as it prepares to introduce new memory configurations for its Instinct MI300 series. The move comes after Nvidia recently launched its H200 with 141GB of HBM3E, stealing some of the spotlight from AMD’s Instinct MI300A with 128GB of HBM3 memory and the Instinct MI300X AI accelerators with 192GB of HBM3 memory.
During a presentation at the Arete Investor Webinar Conference, Mark Papermaster, AMD’s chief technology officer, hinted at the possibility of new versions of Instinct MI300-series products with more memory. Papermaster stated, ‘We are not standing still. We made adjustments to accelerate our roadmap with both memory configurations around the MI300 family, derivatives of MI300, the generation next. So, we have 8-Hi stacks. We architected for 12-Hi stacks. We are shipping with MI300 HBM3. We have architected for HBM3E.’
Currently, AMD’s Instinct MI300A is equipped with 128GB of HBM3 memory using 8-Hi known good stack die (KGSD), while the Instinct MI300X comes with 192GB of memory and uses 12-Hi KGDSs. However, none of AMD’s products currently use HBM3E, but it appears that the company could utilize it for future versions of Instinct MI300-series products.
By incorporating HBM3E instead of HBM3, AMD can significantly increase the memory bandwidth available to its AI and HPC GPU or APU. The transition to HBM3E is expected to occur sooner rather than later, as it is a relatively straightforward process to change the memory devices attached to its processors.
AMD’s performance numbers indicate that the Instinct MI300X outperforms Nvidia’s H100 80GB GPU, which is widely used by major hyperscalers such as Google, Meta (Facebook), and Microsoft. The Instinct MI300X is also expected to pose strong competition against Nvidia’s upcoming H200 141GB GPU. However, the potential of AMD’s hypothetical Instinct MI300-series with HBM3E memory remains to be seen.
Papermaster emphasized the competitive nature of the market, stating, ‘We have been very closely working with our customers, and what we can tell you this, I will tell you right now: that race has begun, and it is going to be a competitive race. You are going to see that back and forth like you have always seen when you have competition. It is going to be great for the market. It is certainly spurring us at AMD to be at our very best of innovation. Stay tuned with us as we will share more.’
