Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
ZENODOarrow_drop_down
ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
ZENODO
Preprint . 2026
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
versions View all 3 versions
addClaim

Microbenchmarking Instruction-Level Tensor Core Throttling in NVIDIA CMP 170HX

Authors: Xing, Kangwei;

Microbenchmarking Instruction-Level Tensor Core Throttling in NVIDIA CMP 170HX

Abstract

This study takes the flagship NVIDIA CMP 170HX as its research subject, employing microbenchmarking methods to systematically investigate the instruction-level performance limiting mechanisms of its Tensor Cores. The core findings and contributions are threefold: First, experiments reveal for the first time a 256 fixed-cycle instruction execution throttling phenomenon in the CMP 170HX's Tensor Cores. The latency of a single MMA instruction is unaffected by the degree of Instruction Level Parallelism (ILP) and cannot be hidden through pipeline overlap. Furthermore, only 4 warps per Streaming Multiprocessor (SM) can simultaneously issue Tensor Core instructions, ultimately resulting in its FP16 Tensor Core realistic computing power being only 1/32 of its theoretical peak. Second, through multiple controlled experiments including ILP scaling, warp scaling, dependency chain construction, and cross-pipeline interference, the throttling mechanism is precisely pinpointed as a dispatch-level hardware gating limitation, rather than physical damage to the execution units or decoding delays. Third, based on experimental results, a theoretical model from microarchitecture to macroscopic computing power is constructed, completing a full theoretical close-line from the 256-cycle fixed latency and 4-warp issue limit to the measured total computing power of 6.3 TFLOPS.

Keywords

GPU Microbenchmarking, CMP 170HX, TENSOR CORE, Instruction-level Performance Analysis

  • BIP!
    Impact byBIP!
    selected citations
    These citations are derived from selected sources.
    This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
    0
    popularity
    This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
    Average
    influence
    This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
    Average
    impulse
    This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
    Average
Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback
selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
0
Average
Average
Average
Upload OA version
Are you the author of this publication? Upload your Open Access version to Zenodo!
It’s fast and easy, just two clicks!