IBM and Nvidia are teaming up to take on Intel

The OpenPOWER Foundation is IBM’s unique solution to their need to advance their Power architecture and compete with Intel more effectively. The first real test of concept was showcased this week when IBM announced a set of high performance systems that blend IBM’s power technology with NVIDIA’s graphics performance to create servers that have a unique value proposition and are, according to IBM, blindingly fast. 

Now that it’s officially out of the x86 server biz, IBM is hitting the gas on its Power processor strategy with new Power8-based iron that incorporates GPU acceleration tech from Nvidia for the first time. The IBM Power S824L is both the first Power server to include Nvdia Tesla GPUs and the first product to be born out of the work of the OpenPower Foundation, the ARM-like chippery consortium that Big Blue formed last year. IBM has shipped Tesla silicon in its Intel-based System x servers in the past, but with the closing of its sale of the System x division on Wednesday, that line now belongs to Lenovo. But never you mind, IBM says; its work with Nvidia and other OpenPower Foundation members means it can now deliver GPU acceleration in its Power servers, Intel be damned.