Novel Diamond Cooling Boosts GPU Performance
Akash Systems has delivered the first GPU servers using its proprietary diamond cooling technology to NxtGen AI Pvt Ltd. The company claims the solution, which complements existing air and liquid cooling, can increase GPU compute performance by approximately 15% by eliminating thermal throttling.
- The core technology, Gallium Nitride (GaN)-on-Diamond, was invented by Akash Systems' co-founder and CEO, Felix Ejeckam. This material places the hottest part of a transistor within nanometers of synthetic diamond, which is the most thermally conductive material known. - Akash Systems was founded in 2016 and initially focused on applying its GaN-on-Diamond technology to the satellite communications industry to create more powerful and efficient transmitters. The company has received venture funding from notable firms including Khosla Ventures and Founders Fund. - In a demonstration on an Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU, Akash's diamond cooling technology reduced the chip's hot spot temperature from 72.6 °C to 62.3 °C under the same external cooling conditions. - The first recipient of this technology, NxtGen AI Pvt Ltd., is an Indian company building the nation's largest dedicated AI model-training cluster, described as an "AI factory," in partnership with Dell and NVIDIA. - Thermal challenges are a significant bottleneck in high-performance computing; data center cooling can account for 40-50% of total power consumption, and modern AI hardware can generate over 1000W of heat per chip. - Akash Systems is set to significantly scale its manufacturing capabilities by building a 40,000-square-foot cleanroom in West Oakland, California, supported by up to $18.2 million in direct funding from the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act.
