AMD Launches Groundbreaking Rack-Scale Architecture with Instinct MI400 Series; A Game Changer Against NVIDIA

AMD is poised to make a bold entry into the competitive AI market with its upcoming Instinct MI450 AI clusters, marking the company’s first foray into rack-scale solutions.

AMD’s Instinct MI450 Set to Challenge NVIDIA’s AI Dominance

Currently, NVIDIA holds a substantial lead in the AI cluster market, particularly with its popular GB200 Blackwell configurations. These systems have gained significant traction due to their high performance and scalability, making them the go-to choice in the industry. However, this landscape is expected to evolve by late 2026, as SemiAnalysis reports that AMD plans to launch the MI450 IF128 cluster, which aims to disrupt NVIDIA’s stronghold.

In H2 2026, @AMD will release the MI450X IF128 which will be their first ever rack scale architecture.

It uses Infinity fabric protocol over ethernet for the scaleup domain to connect 128 GPU packages with over 1.8TByte/s unidi bandwidth per GPU.

2/7 pic.twitter.com/fcvH7JGtu4

— SemiAnalysis (@SemiAnalysis_) May 15, 2025

The forthcoming MI450 cluster is anticipated to offer variants with 128 and 64 GPUs, directly competing with NVIDIA’s “Vera Rubin”VR200 NVL144 architecture. One standout technology included in AMD’s design is the implementation of “Infinity Fabric”over Ethernet for interconnectivity, promising an impressive unidirectional bandwidth of over 1.8 terabytes per second per GPU.

To enhance scale-out communications, AMD plans to incorporate three Pensando 800GbE network cards per GPU in the MI450 architecture, yielding a total network bandwidth of 2.4 terabits per second. This is notably 1.5 times greater than the capabilities of NVIDIA’s VR200 NVL144. Additionally, a secondary configuration will offer two custom Ethernet network cards per GPU connected via a PCIe interface. Despite these ambitious plans, there are potential challenges that AMD must navigate.

The MI450 IF128 cluster represents one of the most intricate designs AMD has undertaken, raising concerns regarding the feasibility of high-volume production. Furthermore, as the company embarks on its first venture into rack-scale solutions, it will face established competitors that dominate this market segment. To address this, AMD is simultaneously developing a more simplified MI450 IF64 version that is expected to streamline production and performance.

In summary, AMD’s commitment to enhancing its standing in the AI sector with the MI400 lineup could mark a significant turning point for the company, provided that it can deliver the performance and efficiency it promises.

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