Do you want to put 30 GPUs in a computer system? Here’s an AI solution that will work as long as you use Dell: Liqid allows one R760 server to connect to as many as 30 Nvidia GPUs for now, while AMD and Intel are likely soon

By James On May 27, 2024

Composable infrastructure company Liquid has created a cost-effective and scalable solution for organizations looking to deploy high-performance inference capabilities in their data centers.

Unveiled at Dell Technologies World 2024, the UltraStack 30 crams as many as thirty Nvidia L40S GPUs into a single Dell PowerEdge R760 server.

Liqid previously released a technical whitepaper for its UltraStack server on Nvidia GTC 2024 and at the time had only managed to fit a maximum of 20 Nvidia L40S into a PowerEdge server, so that’s quite a jump in a short time.

Support for AMD and Intel is coming

Nvidia L40S GPUs have fewer cores and are generally less powerful than Nvidia’s H100 and A100 accelerators, as well as the newer Blackwell GB200 and B200 systems. However, they are well suited for a variety of high-end tasks, including AI, data analysis, and 3D rendering. This makes them a versatile choice for modern data centers and professional workloads, and they’re cheaper too. L40s typically cost $7,000 to $8,000, compared to H100s which can cost $25,000 to $30,000.

The UltraStack 30 offers enhanced enterprise-grade GPU infrastructure capabilities and builds on previous solutions, with improvements in operations per second and total cost of ownership compared to comparable GPU density solutions. It also features an energy-efficient design that can deliver high performance while reducing energy consumption and operating costs.

This is just the beginning and the company has big plans for the UltraStack 30. Sumit Puri, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Liqid, commented: “As we move forward, we recognize that optimal memory bandwidth will be critical to maximizing the performance. This is why composableCXL (Compute Express Link) is on the horizon at Liqid and promises to further enhance our capabilities in delivering high-performance, low-latency solutions.”

Blocks and files added: “It is our understanding that Liqid can support GPUs and other accelerators from vendors such as AMD and Intel. It is also aware of the opportunity to market its SmartStack and UltraStack technologies to MSPs looking to offer GPUs for rent.”