Gigabyte G292-Z40 GPU Server Review
July 25, 2025We have an NVIDIA-Certified Systems GPU server from Gigabyte! The Gigabyte G292-Z40 GPU Server. It’s been a while since we’ve had one of these densely packed 2U platforms. This one, supports AMD EPYC CPUs from the 2nd and 3rd generations. As this platform doesn’t support the 4th and 5th generation AMD EPYCs, perhaps there are some savings to be had. We’ll let you figure that out.
We described the configuration of a similar system like a Halo troop carrier drop ship with the centralized storage and fans to either side. At 2U it can support up to 8x double-wide Gen4 GPUs so you can bet there are some very interesting design attributes to make sure this system doesn’t turn into a pile of molten slag from all the heat produced. That’s maybe a little dramatic, but come on, it’s a server! Servers are typically not as interesting as the latest gaming experience. And no, you cannot game on this system. That said, its primary function, and no it’s not fluent in over 6 million forms of communication, is for AI, AI Training, AI Inference, high-performance computing, and Visual computing.
On the front of the chassis, storage in the middle with support for SATA, SAS, and up to 4x Gen3 U.2 NVMe drives in those bays with the orange drive release tabs. Blue for SAS and SATA. Or you could go all in on SATA or SAS with all 8 bays. You will need a SAS add-in card to support SAS drives. To either side, a large fan pulls in cool air.
A control panel on the right includes the power ON button and ID button below that, both with integrated LED. Another button to reset the system, and then LEDs for System Status, HDDs, and LAN 1, and LAN 2. No ports or buttons on the other side.
All ports are on the back of the Gigabyte G292-Z40 GPU Server. Those include 2x USB 3.0 ports, 2x 10GbE ports with LAN status LEDs beside each, A system status LED with non-maskable Interrupt button below that. Next, and ID button with integrated LED, Reset button, a dedicated management port for access to the Aspeed AST2500 baseboard management controller module, and VGA port. Below the I/O panel, dual, redundant 2200W 80 PLUS Platinum or Titanium PSUs. Above the I/O panel, two PCIe slots. Two large fans to either side pull that GPU scented air out of the chassis.
To manage the system Gigabyte offers two options, The Gigabyte Management Console, which is pre-installed, and Gigabyte Server Management or GSM, which is available for download. With the Gigabyte Management Console, Administrators can manage a single server or small cluster of servers. It provides real-time health monitoring and management through an easy-to-use graphic interface. You also get automatic event recording, support for standard IPMI specifications, and integration with all storage devices, plus monitoring and control of Broadcom MegaRAID controllers. GSM on the other hand is more of a datacenter application. Once the GSM Agent is installed in each system, Administrators can manage multiple clusters of servers simultaneously using a standard browser. GSM has a complete range of utilities compliant with IPMI and Redfish standards. You can also use a command-line interface, a mobile app compatible with iOS and Android operating systems, and a plugin enabling Administrators the ability to use VMware vCenter monitoring and management.
The PCIe slots, including those for the GPUs are split between the two processors in a dual-root configuration, so if you only have one CPU installed, you only get half the goods, and that includes the memory. Inside the system, you can see the two PCIe 4.0 x16 slots for low-profile cards for support of HD or network interface controllers. With a system like this, for high-availability, dual network controllers would also be of benefit allowing each CPU direct network communications. The CPUs still communicate with each other via AMDs Infinity Fabric. And the controllers themselves, at least those at the top of the stack listed, can provide up to 200Gb/s, per port.
Down each side of the system are two GPU cages, each capable of supporting 2x double-wide 300W GPUs. 4x down the right and 4x down the left for 8x total.
GPUs supported include a number of high-performance options including, The NVIDIA V100S, T4 Turing, A100, A100 80GB, A40, A2, and L4. Also, a single AMD Radeon Instinct MI50 with 32GB of memory. At least that is what have been vetted by Gigabyte for use on this platform.
Since that list was released, NVIDIA and AMD have released several next-gen GPUs. That said, these were the ones they tested prior to releasing the platform. It’s a fair guess to assume you can install some of the newer cards too. It’s only the Hopper H100 and new Blackwell-series H200 NVL cards that require a PCIe 5.0 interface. They also have a much higher TDP and would not be practical on a system like this. So, let’s look at one that does work.
We were going to go with an AMD card but we don’t have any of the AMD Radeon instinct MI50. We have an MI100, which would most likely work in this system, and was designed compete with NVIDIA’s A100 40GB GPU. We’re going to look at the NIVDIA A100 80GB GPU. This card offers dual slot cooling, meaning no integrated fans. But it does take up a 2x PCIe slot width in a server. It is specifically for servers and has no video output ports on the cards. This one has the highest memory at 80GB of HBM2e memory. It features Ampere architecture and was released in June of 2021. Under that sleek finish is a circuit board with 54,200 million transistors, 6,912 shading units, 432 texture mapping units and 160 ROPs or Raster Output Units. Let’s not talk about that acronym. This card is designed to support AI, data analytics, and high-performance computing. Just what this system is designed to excel at. Most if not all of these cards do not support DirectX 12 so that may be a problem for a Gaming server.
The G292-Z40 supports dual, inline 4th of 5th generation AMD EPYC 7002 or 7003-series CPUs. However, with all the potential heat from GPUs, the CPUs are limited to a TDP of up to 240W. Each generation can provide up to 64 physical cores and 128 virtual threads and memory speeds of up to 3200MT/s.
With 8-channel memory architecture and 16x memory module slots between the two CPUs, each memory module occupies a single memory channel for optimal performance. The system accommodates either Registered or Load-Reduced DDR4 memory modules. Listed in the specs are modules with a 256GB capacity for up to 4TB of memory. That said, the Memory Population Guidelines do add a note under the supported DIMM Types table that says “This table represents a listing of DIMMs available on AMD EPYC processors at the time of writing. Make of that what you will…
Now you may have noticed, with 8x 300W GPUs, which combined equals 2,400W plus potentially 2x 240W CPUs at up to 480W combined. Just the GPUs and CPUs add up to 2,880 W, so depending on your configuration it could be dual redundant PSUs but other configurations fully loaded, creates a non-fully-redundant PSU situation.
That is where, what Gigabyte calls Smart Crises Management and Protection or SCMP comes into play. With SCMP, if one of the PSUs goes south or the system overheats, the system will throttle the CPUs into an ultra-low power mode to prevent an unexpected shutdown, component damage or data loss. There are also capacitors within the PSUs that will run the system for literally a few milli-seconds, like 10-20, until the system can transition to a backup power source.
To keep this 2U system cool with dual processors and support for up to 8x double-wide GPUs, there are 8 fans. The 2x in front blow cool air down the GPU cages to either side which is then vented out through perforated panels on the sides of the system.
Another perforated panel, right beside that, pulls air in to cool the next set of GPU cages at the back of the chassis. Two more fans at the back pull the air out. Those are exclusively for GPU cooling. Cooling the center interior of the chassis with the CPUs, memory modules, low profile PCIe slots, and PSUs are 2x large fans located just behind the front drive bays and backplane. This system is designed for exceptional air flow.
We hope you enjoyed this short overview of the Gigabyte G292-Z40 GPU server. This system truly has a very compact design at 2U, yet still has room for dual processors and up to 8x Double-wide high-performance GPUs. That is technological tour de force.
If you have any questions about this server, or any other system, contact us today! We have a gigantic warehouse with servers, workstations, custom-gaming systems, GPUs, CPUs, PSUs, and so much more!
