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Intel Neural Processing Unit (NPU) with ESXi

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Starting with Intel Meteor Lake (14th Generation) CPUs, now part of the new Intel Core Ultra Processor (Series 1) brand, an integrated Neural Processing Unit or NPU is built right into the SoC (system-on-chip) and is optimized for low power AI Inferencing.


I found this article from Chips and Cheese about the new Intel Meteor Lake NPU to be super insightful, definitely recommend a read if you are new to NPUs.

While you can already consume the Intel integrated graphics (iGPU) in platforms like the Intel NUC with ESXi for workload inferencing, I was curious on whether this new Intel NPU could actually be used by ESXi? 🤔

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ESXi on ASUS PN64-E1

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There are not many small form factor kits out there right now that supports Thunderbolt 4, so I was really interested in what ASUS had to offer with their release of the PN64-E1.


I have actually never worked with an ASUS kit before, so I was definitely looking forward to getting my hands on one of this system and see what capabilities it can enable for the VMware community. I initially learned about this platform last year with their PN64, but in speaking with ASUS, they mentioned I should really check out their newest offering, the PN64-E1, which has several new enhancements over their previous model.

So here is your first look at the ASUS PN64-E1!

UPDATE (02/20/25) - 128GB (2x64GB) DDR5 SODIMM memory is fully functional with PN64-E1, please see this blog post for more information.

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