AMD says MEXT can cut server DRAM needs by 20-75%

Top News · Reported · tomshardware.com

MEXT is designed to reduce server DRAM requirements by moving cold memory pages to flash. AMD has partnered with HPE to bring it to customers, starting with selected EPYC Venice servers carrying a “MEXT Ready” badge and a dedicated NVMe drive or bay.

Here's what changes:

• AMD and MEXT's founder say DRAM needs can fall by 20-75%, depending on the application and performance target.
• MEXT predicts when pages are needed and returns them to DRAM. Offloaded memory appears to the OS as installed DRAM.
• AMD's internal five-agent test retained 99% of full-server performance at 50% memory capacity and 85% at 25%.
• The Linux kernel module trains in under a second at deployment, uses one EPYC CPU core without a GPU, and keeps training as workloads run.

One catch: MEXT is EPYC-exclusive, and the license rollout with RAM View has no start date. Performance and suitability vary by workload.

Sources: tomshardware.com