SXM-To-PCIe Adapter Board Will Let Users Convert NVIDIA’s Top H100 AI GPUs Into 1 or 2-Slot Graphics Cards

NVIDIA's highly popular H100 AI GPUs might now be usable in any "conventional" motherboard as a new SXM-to-PCIe board surfaces online.

The AI markets are at their pinnacle right now, with demand exploding out of the roof and every other individual or firm desiring to get their hands on the latest AI GPUs. We all know how NVIDIA's H100 has dominated the firm's positions in the AI industry, with more than 1.5 million units getting sold in just FY23.

With high demand comes the need for a "creative" approach, and apparently, a Chinese modder has been inspired by this and has developed a unique SXM-to-PCIe platform dedicated to NVIDIA's H100 AI GPUs.

New SXM-to-PCIe H100 mod ???????? from Xianyu apps https://t.co/iSQCN1vqxG pic.twitter.com/uVkH63REtJ

— I_Leak_VN (@I_Leak_VN) March 19, 2024

Previously, we have seen consumer-tier GPUs being reverse-engineered into 2-slot designs for the AI market but this new model is something entirely brand new.

The mod is listed on Goofish, a Chinese marketplace with some "weird" tech stuff.  We also got to see prototypes of the RTX 4090 (Ti) graphics card here. Based on what the listing tells us, the mod , which is an adapter board, converts an SXM5 connection to a PCIe Gen 4 one, which means that each consumer having a standard Gen4 motherboard could mount the NVIDIA H100 AI GPU easily.

Looking at the board itself, it is quite huge with various voltage measuring points and headers. The SXM 5 "Mezzazine" connectors can be seen in the middle and there are mounting holes to fit a GPU cooler on top of it. The H100 SXM can support TDPs north of 500W so you'll have to run these GPUs under some hefty cooling (active preferably). There are several power connectors including two 8-pin and two 6-pin which equal 450 Watts of power and 525W with the PCIe interface (75W). There are four fan headers too.

The mod will suit perfectly in instances where NVIDIA's H100 is required for research rather than extracting hardcore AI performance from it since its " sustainability " is questionable. H100 SXM boards are usually equipped in huge racks in configurations of up to 8 GPUs per rack. They are a very unconventional setup and cost 100s of thousands of dollars. So having a SXM-to-PCIe mod can be useful for those who want to put say 1 or 2 of these cards within their workstations or desktop servers.

In terms of pricing, the SXM-to-PCIe H100 mod is retailing for 114 yuan or around $16, which is pretty decent because even modern-day PCIe converters go for a much larger price. We can't be sure about the practicality of the mod since it hasn't been tested yet; hence, it raises the curiosity of how the mod would work out.

News Source: @I_Leak_VN