Although Nvidia's chips are finally starting to line server racks—for example, —they're still arriving a little later than initially planned. But perhaps they should have arrived even later, as we're now hearing word that the chips might have been rushed to market too soon.
Tech site (via ) reports that "during testing of the chips in [[link]] the weeks after Huang's announcement, Nvidia engineers discovered that the chips failed in the types of high-voltage environments that are common in data centers". This is supposedly according to "two people with direct knowledge of the problem".
Which isn't to say there's been 30 years of uninterrupted partnership. Perhaps most prominently, the relationship was punctuated by an intermission for Nvidia's 30-series 'Ampere' GPUs, which it had Samsung produce. Now, The Information suggests that Nvidia could ditch TSMC for Samsung once again and hopes to receive a 20–30% discount compared to TSMC.
Yeah, and I hope for a 20–30% tax break. What, wishes aren't fishes?
: The top chips from Intel and AMD.
: The right boards.
: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits.
: Get into the game ahead of the rest.
Samsung's not been doing amazingly of late, with its and . However, it's not all doom and gloom, as the chip giant is still a giant. Along with TSMC, [[link]] it's been and is still planning on .
But TSMC still remains a better choice, even if relations are strained right now due to chip defects. Hell, it's just compared to Q3 last year. The market's really booming in TSMC's favour right now.
If all The Information reports is correct, what seems more likely is that Nvidia's angling for a better deal than it's currently getting.
Let's just hope these supposed defects don't make their way into the RTX 50-series batches that should launch early next year.