Nvidia says its GPUs contain 10 to 40 RISC‑V cores, totaling over a billion in 2024
Nvidia reports that every GPU includes a set of 10 to 40 small RISC‑V management processors, which it estimates adds up to more than a billion cores shipped in 2024. These cores are not part of the shader array; they handle tasks such as driver functions, power management, security, and video encoding/decoding. The company says the older 32‑bit Falcon microcontrollers were replaced because they…
Key points
- Nvidia estimates each GPU houses 10‑40 RISC‑V management cores, leading to over a billion shipped in 2024.
- The RISC‑V cores replace the older 32‑bit Falcon microcontrollers and handle driver, power, security, and video functions.
- Nvidia’s GPU System Processor runs four RV64 cores with cryptographic signatures, limiting open‑source driver control.
Three in‑order RV32I‑MU cores (NV‑RISCV32), out‑of‑order RV64I‑MSU cores (NV‑RISCV64) and a vector‑unit RV32 core (NV‑RVV) are built by Nvidia and wrapped in a subsystem called “Peregrine”. The GPU System Processor (GSP) runs four RV64 cores with cryptographic signatures, preventing unsigned firmware from booting. This design improves latency and enables secure partitioning of a single GPU for virtual machines, but it also limits the openness of Nvidia’s driver stack for Linux users.
Every Nvidia GPU has 10 to 30 RISC-V cores inside it
xda-developers.com · 16 September 2026
Loading the full article…
This text was published by xda-developers.com and written by Adam Conway. It is reproduced here with attribution so you can read it in full; the rights remain with the publisher. Read it at the source ↗
Coverage and discussion
1source- Hacker News discussion · 42 pointsnews.ycombinator.com
The headline, key points and digest above were generated by Digest AI's editorial model from the linked sources. Automated summaries can contain errors: the sources are the record. Spotted a mistake? Tell us. Published by Martin K., who runs Digest AI and handles corrections.
More in Hardware & Compute
All →- Applied Materials and Intel expand AI chipmaking collaboration at epic Center · 1 src
- Xeal to deploy 100,000 Nvidia GPUs in EV charging pods across US · 1 src
- Meta’s Muse boosts AMD stock as AI agents shift workload to CPUs · 1 src
- Nokia CEO says data center construction could double without supply constraints · 1 src
- Ghost launches $3,499 AI agent computer with $11M seed · 1 src
Comments
via GitHub Discussions