A GPU not bigger than a deck of playing cards
ADLINK had an idea to launch a small and portable GPU that could be used at any time.
ADLINK Pocket AI GPU, Source: StorageReview
What is hidden inside is a NVIDIA RTX A500 GPU with 4GB of RAM. It is an external GPU that is entirely powered and connected to the system through Thunderbolt 3 interface. As the name suggests, the primary goal of this product is to provide quick access to an AI-capable GPU, but nothing should prevent anyone from using the power of these graphics for other purposes.
The only problem may be limited performance because the GPU is already heavily restricted by its form factor. This has not stopped ADLINK from adding a single fan and a relatively large aluminum heatsink for its size.
ADLINK Pocket AI GPU, Source: StorageReview
According to the article at StorageReview, the GPU offers 2048 CUDA cores and has a maximum single-precision compute performance of around 6.5 TFLOPS. Since it is based on GA107 GPU, there are also 64 Tensor cores and 16 RT cores. However, the GPU offers 435 MHz base and 1335 MHz boost clocks, severely limited from full 1440/1770 MHz configuration, notes Tom’s Hardware.
The GPU was put to the test against the Intel Xe GPU, which is an integrated solution, and NVIDIA A5000 Laptop GPU, which is a high-end GA104 mobile processor with 6144 CUDA cores and 16GB of memory. ADLINK’s Pocket AI processor has three times fewer cores and four times less memory. Not to mention the 25W thermal and power limit.
| Pocket A1 GPU Performance | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| StorageReview | Iris XE 96 core | ADLINK Pocket AI | A5000 Laptop GPU |
| Luxmark Hall | 1828 | 3979 | 14,226 |
| Luxmark Food | 869 | 1837 | 5,499 |
| Procyon AI Inference | 59 | 264 | 651 |
The AI GPU has clearly been outperformed by the A5000, which runs at 80-165W depending on the settings. However, for those developers and researchers on the move with a lightweight laptop featuring only Intel graphics, an alternative in the form of this pocket GPU solution might give them the boost they require.
Given the price and limited performance, professionals may need to look for something more capable. The system reportedly costs $429, so it is certainly not the cheapest product around at this point. One might wonder if AMD’s Ryzen 7600M XT-based GPD G1 wouldn’t be a better choice at $655, but AMD GPU may not offer the same features as Ampere workstation GPU.
Source: StorageReview via Tom’s Hardware
