A100

A100 refers to NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPU, a data center graphics processing unit released in 2020 as part of Nvidia’s Ampere generation. It is designed to accelerate artificial intelligence training and inference, as well as high-performance computing and data analytics workloads. The A100 introduced architectural advances intended to improve throughput for large-scale models and complex simulations.

Key features include support for multi-precision computing and Tensor Core acceleration, enabling efficient operation across FP32, BF16, FP16, TF32, INT8, and INT4 workloads. It also integrates third-generation Tensor Cores and is designed to exploit model sparsity for higher performance. The A100 ships with High Bandwidth Memory 2 (HBM2) and is available in memory configurations such as 40 GB and 80 GB. It supports multiple interconnect options, including NVLink for high-bandwidth communication between GPUs and PCIe for data center integration. A notable capability is Multi-Instance GPU (MIG), which allows a single A100 to be partitioned into up to several independent instances to run multiple workloads concurrently. Form factors include PCIe and SXM4 modules.

Applications for the A100 span large-scale AI training and inference, scientific computing, and data analytics in cloud and on-premises data centers. It is widely deployed in enterprise and research environments to accelerate deep learning workloads, complex simulations, and HPC tasks, often in multi-GPU configurations to scale performance across clusters.

The A100 is a flagship component of Nvidia’s data center GPU lineup, with continued evolution within the Ampere family and subsequent generations influencing GPU acceleration strategies in AI and HPC.