Cisco HCIX-GPU-L40S | NVIDIA L40S GPU, 48GB GDDR6 ECC, 350W, PCIe 4.0 x16

Q: What Cisco systems is the HCIX-GPU-L40S compatible with?
A: The HCIX-GPU-L40S is designed for Cisco Compute Hyperconverged infrastructure, specifically the 440p PCIe Node. It requires Gen 4 PCIe risers (Riser 1A or Riser 2A) and integrates with the Cisco Compute Hyperconverged 9508 chassis using X-Fabric modules for GPU acceleration.

Q: What workloads is the NVIDIA L40S GPU optimized for?
A: The L40S excels at generative AI inference, large language model training and fine-tuning, graphics rendering, 3D modeling, video encoding and transcoding, virtual workstation deployments, and multi-modal AI workloads. It is particularly well-suited for 7B-30B parameter LLM serving and high-resolution image generation.

Q: How does the L40S compare to the previous L40 GPU?
A: The L40S delivers nearly double the TF32 Tensor Core TFLOPS and FP16 performance compared to the L40, while increasing maximum power from 300W to 350W. Both share the same 48GB memory capacity and Ada Lovelace AD102 architecture, but the L40S provides significantly enhanced AI and compute capabilities.

Q: Does the HCIX-GPU-L40S support multi-GPU configurations?
A: Yes, the Cisco UCS X440p PCIe Node can support up to four GPUs when connected to X210c M6, X210c M7, or X410c M7 Compute Nodes via X-Fabric technology. However, the L40S uses PCIe interconnect rather than NVLink, so multi-GPU scaling is optimized for independent inference tasks rather than distributed tensor-parallel training.

Q: What cooling requirements does this GPU have?
A: The HCIX-GPU-L40S features passive cooling and requires adequate server chassis airflow to dissipate its 350W thermal load. When configured in Cisco systems, specific air ducts and air blockers may be required depending on the GPU configuration and number of GPUs installed.