GPU Shortage Hits Data Centers: NVIDIA A100 GPU Supply Insufficient

[AleksandarK]

GPU supply has been one of the most interesting things this year. With a huge demand for the new GPU generations like NVIDIA's Ampere and AMD's RDNA 2 "Big Navi" graphics cards, everyone is trying to grab a card for themselves. Besides the huge demand, there is also a big problem. The supply of these GPUs is just too low to satisfy the demand, driving up the prices, and increasing the scarcity of them. Companies like NVIDIA have their priorities set: all of the major production will go for the data center expansion and data center customers. However, even that plan is proving not to be good enough.

The scarcity of GPUs has now hit data centers, with NVIDIA unable to satisfy the demand for its A100 GPUs designed for high-performance computing. "It is going to take several months to catch up some of the demand," said Ian Buck, vice president of Accelerated Computing Business Unit at Nvidia. That is an indicator of just how huge the demand for these accelerators is. With the recent company announcement of A100 GPU with 80 GB memory, partners expect to have the first cards in their systems in the first half of 2021. That means that this situation and inadequate supply will hopefully resolve sometime around that timeframe.


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[R0H1T]

That is an indicator of just how huge the demand for these accelerators is.

More like how important & quintessential TSMC (7nm) is. Now imagine a world where they wouldn't exist ~ between Apple, AMD, QC, Huawei, Nvidia they're probably outselling the next best foundry (Intel) anywhere between at least 2-5x in terms of volumes & value for the products these chips feature in!

 

[Jism]

So if you where to invest in starting your own chip fabric, how much your looking at for a latest design of EUV equipment from ASML to get started?

Golden business right now.

 

[londiste]

So if you where to invest in starting your own chip fabric, how much your looking at for a latest design of EUV equipment from ASML to get started?
Golden business right now.

High tens of billions at lowest, upkeep is not something to sneeze at either and you need a big R&D budget to back you up. Plus you need to know-how and patent management.
China (!) has tried and latest news are about them kind off failing.
So... golden

More like how important & quintessential TSMC (7nm) is. Now imagine a world where they wouldn't exist ~ between Apple, AMD, QC, Huawei, Nvidia they're probably outselling the next best foundry (Intel) anywhere between at least 2-5x in terms of volumes & value for the products these chips feature in!

You are looking at this wrong. By installed wafer capacity (and at current rate, all that is used) Samsung is still largest foundry by a bit over TSMC, followed by Micron, SK Hynix and probably a couple others in front of Intel.

TSMC should be biggest by foundry revenue - a metric which AFAIK usually has own chips excluded so a bad picture. No idea what the 7/5nm share on Samsung is but I would expect TSMC to slightly lead on revenue/profit due to better and pricier 7/5nm manufacturing.

 

[henok.gk]

So if you where to invest in starting your own chip fabric, how much your looking at for a latest design of EUV equipment from ASML to get started?

Golden business right now.

Definitely in multi billion range. But that's not the main problem that is reserved to match the pace with current players in the field which is going to take quite a lot of time.

 

[Metroid]

Great way to charge even more for already expensive data center gpus.

 

[Vayra86]

High tens of billions at lowest, upkeep is not something to sneeze at either and you need a big R&D budget to back you up. Plus you need to know-how and patent management.
China (!) has tried and latest news are about them kind off failing.
So... golden

Yeah... and even then, what you've got is not the cutting edge... but an old node that is history by the time you've got a handle on it.

This is where China is going now. By the time you're done copying all the minutia, you're old news. What TSMC is doing with EUV right now is unique in the world, and its not just ASML machinery but lots of very smart heads that get together and a supply chain that works in perfect harmony as well. Every tiny piece needs to check out.

 

[londiste]

What TSMC is doing with EUV right now is unique in the world, and its not just ASML machinery but lots of very smart heads that get together and a supply chain that works in perfect harmony as well. Every tiny piece needs to check out.

EUV is probably not that big of a problem or unique point. Samsung and Intel are both using EUV as well. TSMC did get a considerable lead in amount of machinery though if news bits are to be believed.

 

[TumbleGeorge]

Ok, just imagine that I build big facility with latest lithography in USA...Where is my 1000+ or 10000+ highly educated us workers to support manufacturing process? There are so many singers, youtube influencers, artists, swindlers, players in all kinds of sports, gunners, thieves, advertising agents and traveling salesmen and others. However, where are the highly educated specialists I need right in this moment with the knowledge and skills which I need?

 

[Vayra86]

EUV is probably not that big of a problem or unique point. Samsung and Intel are both using EUV as well. TSMC did get a considerable lead in amount of machinery though if news bits are to be believed.

What they use EUV for is what matters though, because thats the critical barrier TSMC has broken and the rest has not - or they did but not with marketable yields.

 

[Vya Domus]

However, where are the highly educated specialists I need right in this moment with the knowledge and skills which I need?

Asia ?

 

[londiste]

What they use EUV for is what matters though, because thats the critical barrier TSMC has broken and the rest has not - or they did but not with marketable yields.

Same thing TSMC uses it for. While details are hard to come by, Samsung does seem to mass-produce 7nm SoCs (also eyeing their 5nm) and while Intel's initial attempts at not using EUV seemed to fail pretty spectacularly now they have reportedly switched to using some EUV which works somewhat better (but they have other issues).

EUV is at the border of make-or-break of 7nm class manufacturing processes but it is by far not the only hurdle to deal with.

 

[windwhirl]

So if you where to invest in starting your own chip fabric, how much your looking at for a latest design of EUV equipment from ASML to get started?

Golden business right now.

Last I heard, putting the fabric on the map alone (never mind R&D, staffing, etc.) was somewhere around a dozen billion US dollars.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/15803/tsmc-build-5nm-fab-in-arizona-for-2024

And this facility is supposed to push out some 20k wafers a month, a rather low number considering that TSMC has another facility in Taiwan that can push some 100k wafers a month.

Ok, just imagine that I build big facility with latest lithography in USA...Where is my 1000+ or 10000+ highly educated us workers to support manufacturing process? There are so many singers, youtube influencers, artists, swindlers, players in all kinds of sports, gunners, thieves, advertising agents and traveling salesmen and others. However, where are the highly educated specialists I need right in this moment with the knowledge and skills which I need?

Asia ?

I think the US does have some people that are more than capable of doing those jobs, but they're probably already taken by Intel or others. There is also the matter of relocating them and screening them (to protect TSMC's IP and the IP of any potential work for the US military), but that's a lesser concern.

 

[dragontamer5788]

Ok, just imagine that I build big facility with latest lithography in USA...Where is my 1000+ or 10000+ highly educated us workers to support manufacturing process? There are so many singers, youtube influencers, artists, swindlers, players in all kinds of sports, gunners, thieves, advertising agents and traveling salesmen and others. However, where are the highly educated specialists I need right in this moment with the knowledge and skills which I need?

GloFo was in New York, right?

Its not like they disappeared. IBM / GloFo just couldn't compete with the prices and fell behind. They're still making 14nm chips and 12nm chips.

 

[mouacyk]

So if you where to invest in starting your own chip fabric, how much your looking at for a latest design of EUV equipment from ASML to get started?

Golden business right now.

World-wide silicon-grade sand shortage says hello.

 

[TumbleGeorge]

GloFo was in New York, right?

Its not like they disappeared. IBM / GloFo just couldn't compete with the prices and fell behind. They're still making 14nm chips and 12nm chips.

Yes but they don't start from scratch today. Has history... Before a most of decade was much easy to start. And have difficulties with latest nanometers. Only 3 fabs in US, most of fabs in Singapore, one in Germany. If this info is actual.