Lenovo partners with Nvidia on hybrid AI solutions

Lenovo announced new hybrid AI solutions built in collaboration with Nvidia at the latter's GTC global AI conference on Monday US time. 

The company unveiled an expanded Lenovo ThinkSystem AI portfolio, featuring two new 8-way Nvidia GPU systems engineered for generative AI (GenAI), natural language processing and large language model (LLM) development.

The portfolio provides support for the Nvidia HGX AI supercomputing platform, including NVIDIA H100 and H200 Tensor Core GPUs and the new Nvidia Grace Blackwell GB200 Superchip, as well as the Nvidia Quantum-X800 InfiniBand and Spectrum-X800 Ethernet networking platforms.

Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3

The new Lenovo ThinkSystem SR780a V3 is a 5U system that uses Lenovo Neptune liquid cooling and boasts power usage effectiveness of 1.1.

By using direct water cooling of CPU and GPUs and Nvidia NVSwitch technology, the system can "can drive higher sustained performance while consuming less energy," Lenovo said.

It also allows the ThinkSystem SR780a to fit in a dense 5U package, helping conserve data center real estate. 

Lenovo ThinkSystem SR680a V3

Also added to the portfolio, the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR680a V3 is an air-cooled, two-socket system built for complex AI with Intel processors and a choice of Nvidia GPUs.

"The highly accelerated systems deliver massive computational capability and use industry-standard 19-inch server racks, allowing for dense hardware configurations that maximise efficiency without occupying excessive floor space or requiring shelving," Lenovo said.

Lenovo PG8A0N

Lenovo also showcased a new Lenovo PG8A0N 1U node for AI featuring open-loop liquid cooling for accelerators, supporting the Nvidia GB200 Grace Blackwell Superchip.

The company said the new GB200 "delivers 45 times faster real-time LLM inference, 40 times lower TCO and 40 times less energy."

Co-designed NVIDIA MGX solutions

Also unveiled were Lenovo's new offerings built with the Nvidia MGX modular reference server design to help companies build and deploy AI, HPC and Omniverse applications. These include:

• Lenovo HG630N – MGX 1U – an open-standard server with Lenovo Neptune direct liquid cooling to reduce power consumption while supporting the highest-performing GPUs.
• Lenovo HG650N – MGX 2U – a highly modular, GPU-optimised system that is air-cooled, supports industry-standard racks and enables Nvidia GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip.
• Lenovo HG660X V3 – MGX 4U – a system that supports up to 8 600W NVIDIA GPUs in an air-cooled environment, ideal for NVIDIA Omniverse and AI workloads. Lenovo is a Nvidia design partner for MGX 4U.
• Lenovo HR650N – MGX 2U – a high-performing Arm CPU server with multiple cores and flexibility for storage and Front IO, leveraging the energy-efficient NvidiaGrace CPU Superchip and supporting DPUs.

Lenovo ThinkStation Workstations with NVIDIA RTX

Lenovo has enhanced its data science workstations by offering up to four Nvidia RTX 6000 Ada Generation GPUs for large AI training, fine-tuning, inferencing and accelerated graphics-intensive workloads.

New Lenovo workstations feature Nvidia AI Workbench; a software tool that enables the development and deployment of AI solutions for inferencing, large-scale simulation as well as industrial and scientific workflows. 

ThinkStation and ThinkPad workstations now feature the new NvidiaA800 GPU that enables data science and GenAI environments for organisations working with all kinds of AI workflows.

Lenovo professional services

The company also announced new AI professional services offerings, including:

• AI Discover - Helps customers uncover the “art of the possible” for AI via interactive workshops and assessments and mapping out an AI strategy.
• Fast Start Generative AI services with NVIDIA - Helps customers implement, adopt and scale GenAI solutions.
• TruScale GenAI As-A-Service – Provides AI capabilities through an as a service model to help customers procure, deploy and manage AI.
• Enhanced Professional Services for AI - Helps customers accelerate their AI transformation by providing business advisors, data scientists and AI-optimised infrastructure-as-a-service.

“Lenovo’s work with NVIDIA is pushing the boundaries of augmented intelligence for businesses everywhere, taking AI compute to where their data lives with a comprehensive portfolio of cutting-edge, hybrid AI solutions that will power generative AI from virtually anywhere while supporting sustainability efforts,” said Kirk Skaugen, president of Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group.

“We are at an inflection point where new AI use cases are coming to market based on improvements in real-time computing, power efficiency and ease of deployment."

"Through our partnership with NVIDIA, we are delivering groundbreaking advancements in efficiency, performance, and cost that are accelerating AI applications across every industry and helping businesses immediately use insights from their data sets, whether for upgrading the retail experience, reimagining our cities, or unlocking the next level of smart manufacturing.”