Russia’s Self-Developed Arm CPU with 48 Cortex-A75 Cores

The Russian server supplier Graviton has announced the launch of its first AI and HPC server powered by domestically developed processors. The device can support up to 8 compute GPUs for handling AI and supercomputing workloads. The supplier did not recommend any specific GPUs (although it is easy to guess), possibly because purchasing them is illegal during the sanctions period. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether the machine can achieve competitive performance figures.

According to ServerNews, the Graviton S2124B server is based on two undisclosed 48-core CPUs running at 2 GHz, equipped with DDR4-3200 memory. The basic specifications of the processor may indicate that it is the Baikal Electronics BE-S1000 server-grade chip, which contains 48 Arm Cortex-A75 cores and supports 2-way and 4-way symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) configurations.

This specific version of the BE-S1000 appears to have reduced the CPU clock frequency to 500 MHz lower than its original frequency, which may result from porting its design from TSMC’s 16FFC to a different foundry’s production node. Baikal may also have lowered the runtime clock to improve yield or reduce power consumption.

Dividing the claimed performance figures by eight, we can ascertain the GPUs that Graviton intends to install in its S2124B machine (in all cases, we will refer to tensor core performance). The performance figures for each accelerator—60 FP64 TFLOPS for supercomputing and 3340 FP8/INT8 TFLOPS/TOPS for AI—point towards Nvidia’s H100 PCIe GPU. Users of the S2124B will have to rely on Nvidia’s CUDA ecosystem. However, without Nvidia’s support, achieving peak performance is unlikely. Additionally, considering that the CPU is Arm-based and relatively unknown, how much performance these Hopper accelerators can actually extract remains to be seen.

In addition to the two CPUs and eight GPU accelerators, Graviton’s S2124B can also integrate 12 SATA drives or 12 NVMe U.3 SSDs.

The Graviton S2124B server is currently open for orders, and customers can also apply for testing opportunities, but the price is unknown. Additionally, it is not clear whether Graviton can provide Nvidia H100 GPUs.

Alexander Filchenkov, head of Graviton’s server and network systems, stated: “We are proud to consistently provide IT solutions that meet market demands in a timely manner. This time, we successfully developed and manufactured servers critical for complex computing using domestically produced processors. This product represents an important step forward in advancing domestic computing technology, enabling our customers to effectively tackle data processing challenges.”

The Russian computer equipment manufacturer Graviton has begun supplying the S2124B server based on domestic processors, supporting up to 8 graphics accelerators. This model focuses on executing AI tasks and high-performance computing. The S2124B server is scheduled to be included in the register of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade in early 2025. The device will be listed as a domestically produced level one radio electronic product.

The Graviton S2124B server is very suitable for AI tasks (especially machine learning and language models) as well as high-performance computing in various applications. It can provide up to 480 Tflops of FP64 processing power for high-performance computing (HPC) workloads, and up to 26,726 Tflops of FP8 and INT8 processing capabilities. This makes the server suitable for scenarios requiring large amounts of data processing.

Orders for the Graviton S2124B server are now open, and customer testing applications are also being accepted.

The server is housed in a single 4U chassis. Its main feature is the ability to install up to 8 graphics accelerator cards, with each graphics accelerator card’s thermal solution rated at up to 350 W. The accelerators are connected via a backplane with a built-in PCI-E expander. The front panel can accommodate up to 12 SATA Graviton drives or a backplane designed specifically for this chassis to install 12 U.3 type NVMe Graviton drives, making it ideal for AI-related tasks.

“We are continually proud to provide IT solutions that meet market needs in a timely manner. This time, we were able to develop and produce servers required for complex computing on domestic processors. This product will be an important step in the development of domestic computing technology, enabling our customers to effectively respond to challenges in the field of data processing,” commented Alexander Filchenkov, head of Graviton’s server and network systems.

The S2124B server will be included in the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade’s register of Russian industrial products in early 2025 and classified as a level one domestically produced radio electronic product. It is already available for order and can be purchased through official Graviton product distributors.