AMD GPU on IBM POWER
The reason for this setup is to test if it is possible to combine AMD MI GPU's together with the PPC64le architecture.
Physical setup
Hardware shoppinglist
- 1x IBM IC922 with dual socket 16 core cpu's and 128GB ram
- 1x AMD MI50 GPU
- Possibility to cut metal
Physical changes
The riser cards of the IC922 has a backplate with a hole for the power of the GPU. But this hole is too small to fit 2x 8-pin PCI-e connectors. So with some help of our mechanical department we now got a hole that's big enough. So make sure that you've got the tools or know somebody that can help you make this hole bigger. The MI50 GPU fits in the riser nicely and don't forget to hookup the power for the GPU.
Basic setup
Make sure that the fans in the IC922 are running at maximum speed all the time. The IC922 and the AMD Mi50 doesn't communicate with each other about how warm the GPU is and how much cooling it needs.
Configuration and Software
Basic OS
We've taken Ubuntu 18.04 for this test. But you'll need to do a few modifications to get this working.
Download the files for PPC64le from Kernel 5.6 and install them via dpkg.
