Discussion Nvidia Blackwell in Q1-2025

[igor_kavinski]

New data point: https://videocardz.com/newz/south-k...rket-76-for-nvidia-21-for-amd-and-3-for-intel

AMD will enjoy a better marketshare in price sensitive markets. Not everyone is crazy enough to plop down cash for brand allegiance while ignoring peformance characteristics of the product at the same time. Especially the poorer gamers do their homework before spending money.

 

[igor_kavinski]

No Backdoors. No Kill Switches. No Spyware.

To mitigate the risk of misuse, some pundits and policymakers propose requiring hardware “kill switches” or built-in controls that can remotely disable GPUs without user knowledge and consent. Some suspect they might already exist. NVIDIA GPUs do not and should not have kill switches and backdoors.

blogs.nvidia.com

Righttttttt.

If they have to put out a blogpost denying it, something's fishy...

 

[okoroezenwa]

No Backdoors. No Kill Switches. No Spyware.

To mitigate the risk of misuse, some pundits and policymakers propose requiring hardware “kill switches” or built-in controls that can remotely disable GPUs without user knowledge and consent. Some suspect they might already exist. NVIDIA GPUs do not and should not have kill switches and backdoors.

blogs.nvidia.com

Righttttttt.

If they have to put out a blogpost denying it, something's fishy...

So they shouldn’t have denied this?

 

[igor_kavinski]

So they shouldn’t have denied this?

Sometimes keeping quiet is the best strategy.

They sure as hell kept quiet when 4090s and even 5090s melted.

 

[okoroezenwa]

Sometimes keeping quiet is the best strategy.

They sure as hell kept quiet when 4090s and even 5090s melted.

You don’t think there’s a bit of a difference between the melting connectors and back door accusations?

 

[igor_kavinski]

You don’t think there’s a bit of a difference between the melting connectors and back door accusations?

Oh there definitely is a world of difference but Nvidia should act consistently. Putting out a blogpost like this only seems to indicate fear that their share price may suddenly crash. If they have nothing to hide and they know they have done nothing wrong, what is there to explain?

 

[basix]

Why making such a blogpost? To avoid false information being spread. One puts a rumor out there and the next one hearing it, believes it.

Business partners have a much longer memory than public communities. A melted connector gets forgotten (especially if you do not officially say anything about it). Potential security vulnerabilities and business harms get remembered.
Additionally, the datacenter market is much bigger for Nvidia. Losing business there hurts much more.

And:
It is much easier to "admit" that you did nothing wrong (security) compared that you actually did something wrong (melted connectors)

 

[jpiniero]

Besides, the spyware is in the Intel CPUs they use.

 

[Mopetar]

You don’t think there’s a bit of a difference between the melting connectors and back door accusations?

There is, but there's a certain benefit to be had in never addressing any accusation. Do it once and they have to do it every time or their lack of denial will be viewed as a silent admission. There's no limit to the mud that can be hurled against a company either.

I would argue it's better to stay quiet until there's a reasonable fix or solution in place even when a company is at fault. At most a message about being aware of reports is all that should be done until something can actually be done.

I'll take a company that keeps its cards close to its chest but ultimately drivers over one that makes little more than timely promises.

 

[igor_kavinski]

So they shouldn’t have denied this?

Late last month, China’s internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, summoned Mr. Huang to a meeting over the possibility that the H20 chip could have “backdoor security risks.” Chinese state media has discouraged companies from buying the H20 over the issue.

Last week, Nvidia published a blog saying that its A.I. chips don’t have back doors. It also condemned a congressional effort to pass a law known as the Chip Security Act, which would require it to track its chips as a way to prevent the technology from being smuggled to China.

Page 239 - Orange stain second term results thread

Page 239 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

forums.anandtech.com

THAT explains it.

Feds will take 15% cut off of AMD/NVIDIA AI chip sales to China.

 

[jpiniero]

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-launches-rtx-pro-4000-sff-and-rtx-pro-2000-blackwell-workstation-gpus-with-70w-tdp

nVidia announces some Blackwell Quadros that don't require a power connector. The Pro 4000 SFF drops the TDP down to 70 W (basically a 70 W 5070 Ti but 24 GB ECC)