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New 8-GPU AI Servers from Lenovo

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13 Aug 2024
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Abstract

This article introduces the three new high-performance servers from Lenovo that support eight GPUs with high-speed interconnects: the ThinkSystem SR680a V3, SR685a V3, and SR780a V3 servers.

Change History

Changes in the August 13, 2024 update:

  • Added the link to the Product Guide for the SR780a V3

Introduction

The new Lenovo ThinkSystem SR680a V3, SR685a V3, and SR780a V3 GPU systems deliver massive computational performance for Artificial Intelligence (AI), High-Performance Computing (HPC), and graphical and simulation workloads across various industries. The family of servers supports eight high-performance GPUs, either from AMD or NVIDIA, with planned support for GPUs from Intel.


Figure 1. New Lenovo ThinkSystem servers that have 2 processors and 8 GPUs (left to right): SR680a V3, SR780a V3, and SR685a V3

The SR680a V3 and SR685a V3 servers feature two Intel® Xeon® and two AMD EPYC™ processors, respectively, and are 100% air-cooled servers suitable for most data centers. The SR780a V3 server features two Intel Xeon processors and uses a hybrid water-air cooling system to take advantage of the efficiencies of cooling the CPUs and GPUs using a direct water cooled infrastructure.

We also announced enhancements to our Lenovo AI Services Practice with new offerings such as AI Discover and new Fast Start services. We unveiled services to implement, adopt, and scale Generative AI solutions which customers can easily deploy and manage as a Service with Lenovo TruScale.

ThinkSystem SR680a V3

The ThinkSystem SR680a V3 offers a choice of acceleration platforms featuring NVIDIA H100 or H200 GPUs with planned support for AMD MI300X and other future GPUs. With high-speed interconnects between the GPUs, the system delivers unparalleled computational power for demanding AI and HPC workloads.

  • 8U chassis with 100% air-cooling
  • Two 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors
  • 8 GPUs with high-speed interconnect, choice of:
    • NVIDIA H100 700W SXM5 GPUs with 80GB HBM3 GPU memory per GPU
    • NVIDIA H200 700W SXM5 GPUs with 141GB HBM3 GPU memory per GPU
    • AMD MI300X 750W OAM GPUs with 192GB HBM3 memory per GPU (planned)
  • Up to 2TB memory with 32x 64GB RDIMMs
  • PCIe 5.0 x16 interfaces to all GPUs and network adapters
  • Support for high-speed networking up to 400 Gb/s, directly connected to the GPU complex
  • Up to 16x high-speed 2.5” NVMe drives

ThinkSystem SR680a V3
Figure 2. ThinkSystem SR680a V3

For more information see the following resources:

ThinkSystem SR685a V3

The ThinkSystem SR685a V3 is an 8U2S rack server built for demanding AI and HPC workloads. It’s accelerated for intense computing using industry-leading 4th Generation AMD EPYC™ Processors, interconnects with the fastest transfer rate with AMD Infinity Fabric or NVIDIA NVLink, and supports 8x of the latest GPUs. It has the computing power to tackle modeling, training, rendering, financial tech, scientific research, and more.

  • 8U chassis with 100% air-cooling
  • Two 4th Gen AMD EPYC processors
  • 8 GPUs with high-speed interconnect, choice of:
    • AMD MI300X 750W OAM GPUs with 192GB HBM3 memory per GPU
    • NVIDIA H100 700W SXM5 GPUs with 80GB HBM3 GPU memory per GPU
    • NVIDIA H200 700W SXM5 GPUs with 141GB HBM3 GPU memory per GPU (planned)
  • Up to 2.25TB memory with 32x 96GB RDIMMs
  • PCIe 5.0 x16 interfaces to all GPUs and network adapters
  • Support for high-speed networking up to 400 Gb/s, directly connected to the GPU complex
  • Up to 16x high-speed 2.5” NVMe drives

ThinkSystem SR685a V3
Figure 3. ThinkSystem SR685a V3

For more information see the following resources:

ThinkSystem SR780a V3

The ThinkSystem SR780a V3 harnesses the might of eight NVIDIA H200 Tensor Core GPUs, paired with two 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors and 32 DDR5 DIMMs. Through Lenovo Neptune™ liquid cooling, this system achieves the extensive computational prowess crucial for handling demanding AI and HPC workloads. Housed in a compact 5U design, it seamlessly fits into a standard 19-inch rack with a water manifold attached at the rear of the rack.

  • 5U chassis with up 80% water-cooling (CPUs & GPUs), 20% air-cooling (other components)
  • Two 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors
  • 8 GPUs with high-speed interconnect, choice of:
    • NVIDIA H100 700W SXM5 GPUs with 80GB HBM3 GPU memory per GPU
    • NVIDIA H200 700W SXM5 GPUs with 141GB HBM3 GPU memory per GPU
    • NVIDIA B200 SXM6 GPUs with 175GB HBM3 GPU memory per GPU (planned)
    • AMD MI300X 750W OAM GPUs with 192GB HBM3 memory per GPU (planned)
  • Up to 2TB memory with 32x 64GB RDIMMs
  • PCIe 5.0 x16 interfaces to all GPUs and network adapters
  • Support for high-speed networking up to 400 Gb/s, directly connected to the GPU complex
  • Up to 8x high-speed 2.5” NVMe drives

ThinkSystem SR780a V3
Figure 4. ThinkSystem SR780a V3

For more information see the following resources:

Seller training courses

The following sales training courses are offered for employees and partners (login required). Courses are listed in date order.

  1. ThinkSystem Rack and Tower Introduction for ISO Client Managers
    2024-10-31 | 20 minutes | Employees Only
    Details
    ThinkSystem Rack and Tower Introduction for ISO Client Managers

    Course Description:
    In this course, you will learn about Lenovo’s Data Center Portfolio, its ThinkSystem Family and the key features of the Rack and Tower servers. It will equip you with foundational knowledge which you can then expand upon by participating in the facilitated session of the curriculum.

    Course Objectives:
    By the end of this course, you should be able to:
    • Identify Lenovo’s main data center brands.
    • Describe the key components of the ThinkSystem Family servers.
    • Differentiate between the Rack and Tower servers of the ThinkSystem Family.
    • Understand the value Rack and Tower servers can provide to customers.

    Published: 2024-10-31
    Length: 20 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo

    Course code: DSRTO101
  2. Virtual Facilitated Session - ThinkSystem Rack and Tower Primer for ISO Client Managers
    2024-10-31 | 90 minutes | Employees Only
    Details
    Virtual Facilitated Session - ThinkSystem Rack and Tower Primer for ISO Client Managers

    In this instructor-led Virtual Facilitated Session, ISO Client Managers will be able to build on the knowledge gained in Module 1 (eLearning) of the ThinkSystem Rack and Tower Primer for ISO Client Managers curriculum.

    IMPORTANT! Module 1 (eLearning) must be completed before participating in this session.

    Published: 2024-10-31
    Length: 90 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo

    Course code: DSRTO102
  3. Q2 Solutions Launch TruScale GPU Next Generation Management in the AI Era Quick Hit
    2024-09-10 | 6 minutes | Employees and Partners
    Details
    Q2 Solutions Launch TruScale GPU Next Generation Management in the AI Era Quick Hit

    This Quick Hit focuses on Lenovo announcing additional ways to help you build, scale, and evolve your customer’s private AI faster for improved ROI with TruScale GPU as a Service, AI-driven systems management, and infrastructure transformation services.

    Published: 2024-09-10
    Length: 6 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
    Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning

    Course code: SXXW2543a
  4. Partner Technical Webinar - OneIQ
    2024-07-15 | 60 minutes | Employees and Partners
    Details
    Partner Technical Webinar - OneIQ

    In this 60-minute replay, Peter Grant, Field CTO for OneIQ, reviewed and demo’d the capabilities of OneIQ including collecting data and analyzing. Additionally, Peter and the team discussed how specific partners (those with NA Channel SA coverage) will get direct access to OneIQ and other partners can get access to OneIQ via Distribution or the NA LETS team.

    Published: 2024-07-15
    Length: 60 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
    Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning

    Course code: 071224
  5. SAP Webinar for Lenovo Sellers: Lenovo Portfolio Update for SAP Landscapes
    2024-06-04 | 60 minutes | Employees Only
    Details
    SAP Webinar for Lenovo Sellers: Lenovo Portfolio Update for SAP Landscapes

    Join Mark Kelly, Advisory IT Architect with the Lenovo Global SAP Center of Competence as he discusses:
    • Challenges in the SAP environment
    • Lenovo On-premise Solutions for SAP
    • Lenovo support resources for SAP solutions

    Published: 2024-06-04
    Length: 60 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo

    Course code: DSAPF101
  6. FY25Q1 AI Server Update
    2024-06-04 | 15 minutes | Employees and Partners
    Details
    FY25Q1 AI Server Update

    This Quick Hit focuses on the new Lenovo servers that form part of the Lenovo and NVIDIA collaboration to deliver the power of Generative AI to every enterprise using new hybrid AI solutions. There are three Lenovo HG Series servers which are based on the NVIDIA MGX modular reference design, and three Lenovo ThinkSystem servers. All use the latest NVIDIA GPUs to meet the demanding workloads generated by AI processing.

    Published: 2024-06-04
    Length: 15 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
    Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning

    Course code: SXXW2528r2a
  7. Lenovo Data Center Product Portfolio
    2024-05-29 | 20 minutes | Employees and Partners
    Details
    Lenovo Data Center Product Portfolio

    This course introduces the Lenovo data center portfolio, and covers servers, storage, storage networking, and software-defined infrastructure products. After completing this course about Lenovo data center products, you will be able to identify product types within each data center family, describe Lenovo innovations that this product family or category uses, and recognize when a specific product should be selected.

    Published: 2024-05-29
    Length: 20 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
    Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning

    Course code: SXXW1110r7
  8. Partner Technical Webinar - GPU Rich Servers and AI Solutions
    2024-05-22 | 60 minutes | Employees and Partners
    Details
    Partner Technical Webinar - GPU Rich Servers and AI Solutions

    In this 60-minute replay, there were two topics. First, Mark Bica, Lenovo Product Management reviewed the 8way GPU servers SR680a and SR685a. Next, Rob Reviere reviewed Solutions for AI Deep Learning including GenAI, LLMs, Computer Vision and Robotics.

    Published: 2024-05-22
    Length: 60 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
    Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning

    Course code: 051724
  9. VTT Cloud Architecture: NVIDIA Using Cloud for GPUs and AI
    2024-05-22 | 60 minutes | Employees Only
    Details
    VTT Cloud Architecture: NVIDIA Using Cloud for GPUs and AI

    Join JD Dupont, NVIDIA Head of Americas Sales, Lenovo partnership and Veer Mehta, NVIDIA Solution Architect on an interactive discussion about cloud to edge, designing cloud Solutions with NVIDIA GPUs and minimizing private\hybrid cloud OPEX with GPUs. Discover how you can use what is done at big public cloud providers for your customers. We will also walk through use cases and see a demo you can use to help your customers.

    Published: 2024-05-22
    Length: 60 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo

    Course code: DVCLD212
  10. 8-GPU Servers powered by Intel
    2024-04-23 | 5 minutes | Employees and Partners
    Details
    8-GPU Servers powered by Intel

    This Quick Hit introduces the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR680a V3, an 8U 8-GPU system powered by Intel Xeon processors. The 8-GPU servers are aimed at large HPC and AI environments.

    Published: 2024-04-23
    Length: 5 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
    Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning

    Course code: SXXW1204r12a
  11. Partner Technical Webinar - ISG Portfolio Update
    2024-04-15 | 60 minutes | Employees and Partners
    Details
    Partner Technical Webinar - ISG Portfolio Update

    In this 60-minute replay, Mark Bica, NA ISG Server Product Manager reviewed the Lenovo ISG portfolio. He covered new editions such as the SR680a \ SR685a, dense servers, and options that are strategic for any workload.

    Published: 2024-04-15
    Length: 60 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
    Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning

    Course code: 041224
  12. Partner Technical Webinar – StorMagic
    2024-03-19 | 60 minutes | Employees and Partners
    Details
    Partner Technical Webinar – StorMagic

    March 08, 2024 – In this 60-minute replay, Stuart Campbell and Wes Ganeko of StorMagic joined us and provided an overview of StorMagic on Lenovo. They also demonstrated the interface while sharing some interesting use cases.

    Published: 2024-03-19
    Length: 60 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
    Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning

    Course code: 030824
  13. Family Portfolio: Storage Controller Options
    2024-01-23 | 25 minutes | Employees and Partners
    Details
    Family Portfolio: Storage Controller Options

    This course covers the storage controller options available for use in Lenovo servers. The classes of storage controller are discussed, along with a discussion of where they are used, and which to choose.

    After completing this course, you will be able to:
    • Describe the classes of storage controllers
    • Discuss where each controller class is used
    • Describe the available options in each controller class

    Published: 2024-01-23
    Length: 25 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
    Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning

    Course code: SXXW1111
  14. Lenovo-Intel Sustainable Solutions QH
    2024-01-22 | 10 minutes | Employees and Partners
    Details
    Lenovo-Intel Sustainable Solutions QH

    This Quick Hit explains how Lenovo and Intel are committed to sustainability, and introduces the Lenovo-Intel joint sustainability campaign. You will learn how to use this campaign to show customers what that level of commitment entails, how to use the campaign's unsolicited proposal approach, and how to use the campaign as a conversation starter which may lead to increased sales.

    Published: 2024-01-22
    Length: 10 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
    Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning

    Course code: SXXW2524a
  15. FY24Q3 Intel Servers Update
    2023-12-11 | 15 minutes | Employees and Partners
    Details
    FY24Q3 Intel Servers Update

    This update is designed to help you discuss the features and customer benefits of Lenovo servers that use the 5th Gen Intel® Xeon® processors. Lenovo has also introduced a new server, the ThinkSystem SD650-N V3, which expands the supercomputer server family. Reasons to call your customer and talk about refreshing their infrastructure are also included as a guideline.

    Published: 2023-12-11
    Length: 15 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
    Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning

    Course code: SXXW2522a
  16. Partner Technical Webinar - Data Center Limits and ISG TAA Compliance
    2023-05-16 | 60 minutes | Employees and Partners
    Details
    Partner Technical Webinar - Data Center Limits and ISG TAA Compliance

    In this 60-minute replay, we had two topics. First Vinod Kamath, Lenovo Distinguished Engineer for Data Center Cooling presented on the Systems Configuration and Data Center Ambient Limits. Second, Shama Patari, Lenovo Trade Council, and Glenn Johnson, Lenovo Principal Engineer for Supply Chain presented on ISG TAA Compliance.

    Published: 2023-05-16
    Length: 60 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
    Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning

    Course code: 051223
  17. Lenovo Sustainable Computing
    2022-09-16 | 4 minutes | Employees and Partners
    Details
    Lenovo Sustainable Computing

    This Quick Hit describes the Lenovo sustainable computing program, and the many ways in which Lenovo strives to respect and protect the environment.

    Published: 2022-09-16
    Length: 4 minutes

    Start the training:
    Employee link: Grow@Lenovo
    Partner link: Lenovo Partner Learning

    Course code: SXXW2504a

1-10 of 17 courses.

For more information

For more information about these servers, contact your Lenovo sales representative or use the Contact Us button on one of the product web pages listed above. Preorders for the SR680a V3 and SR685a V3 are planned in March with general orders planned to open towards the end April. Orders for the SR780a V3 are planned for later in 2024.

Related product families

Product families related to this document are the following:

Trademarks

Lenovo and the Lenovo logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other countries, or both. A current list of Lenovo trademarks is available on the Web at https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/legal/copytrade/.

The following terms are trademarks of Lenovo in the United States, other countries, or both:
Lenovo®
Neptune®
ThinkSystem®

The following terms are trademarks of other companies:

AMD, AMD EPYC™, and Infinity Fabric™ are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

Intel® and Xeon® are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries.

Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.