At SC24, we saw the final form of a card we’ve seen mocked up for some time. Apparently, the new NVIDIA ConnectX-8 will be more like a GPU than the simple network cards of the past.
This is the next generation NVIDIA ConnectX-8 for 800Gbps networks
On the SC24, we saw an NVIDIA Quantum-X (InfiniBand) display with an NVIDIA ConnectX-8 SuperNIC.
What you’ll notice right away is that this probably looks more like a low-profile NVIDIA GPU than a traditional NIC with visible heatsinks.
The card we looked at is a single-port 800 Gbps card.
The most notable feature on the back was this connector. First, the NIC needs airflow, so it’s interesting to see a large connector on the back for the cable. I then asked if this was a multi-host cable connection, perhaps to connect a second CPU, or a PCIe switch output. 800Gbps NIC requires PCIe Gen6 x16 or two Gen5 x16 links to ensure sufficient bandwidth. There are still PCIe Gen5 CPUs on the market, which means this NIC is faster than a single CPU can realistically handle. For generations, we have included a second PCIe x16 connection to the second CPU to provide one link to the system while simultaneously providing direct network access to both CPUs in the system. I’ve looked at the NICs they offer. Additionally, on the NVIDIA Grace platform, limitations of the Grace CPU required the company to use NICs as a way to provide auxiliary connectivity for some devices. Using a NIC is a way to prevent Broadcom products from accessing some NVIDIA Grace servers.
There is a back plate on the back. Again, this is very GPU-like and looks great.
In terms of model, it is an NVIDIA C8180 manufactured in September 2024.
The part number is 900-9X8E-00EX-STQ.
last word
I was happy to see new cards at SC24. It also differs significantly from current Broadcom-based products. We’ve shown you many times the Broadcom 400GbE NIC, which closely resembles a traditional NIC design. Even the AMD Pensando Pollara 400 UltraEthernet RDMA NIC looks like it’s from an older generation. It may seem like a small thing, but visually, NVIDIA networking looks better in servers compared to competitors from Broadcom and AMD (perhaps Intel will also someday do the same with NIC gaming). ). .
