I imagine it's because AI and HPC processors are typically utilized much more fully than your regular desktop processor. A typical desktop CPU is designed to e

I imagine it's because AI and HPC processors are typically utilized much more fully than your regular desktop processor. A typical desktop CPU is designed to execute very varied and branch-heavy code. As such they have a lot of cache and a lot of logic transistors sitting idle at any given time, either waiting for memory or because the code is adding not multiplying for example. You can see that in the die shots like this[1] for example. I imagine the caches are relatively regular and uniform and as such as less complex signal wiring, and idle transistors means lower power requirements. AI and HPC processors are more stream-oriented, and as such contain relatively small cachees and a lot of highly-utilized logic transistors. Compare the desktop CPU with the NVIDIA A100[2] for example. Thus you got both complex wiring, all those execution units needs to be able to very quickly access the register file, and due to the stream-oriented nature one can fully utilize most of the chip so a more complex power delivery network is required. edit: Power delivery tracks can affect signal tracks due to parasitic coupling if they're close enough, potentially causing signals to be misinterpreted by the recipient if power usage fluctuates which it will do during normal operation (if say an execution unit goes from being idle to working on an instruction, or vice versa). Thus it can be challenging to fit both power and signal tracks in close proximity. [1]: https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-5000-zen-3-vermeer-undressed-high-res-die-shots-close-ups-pictured-detailed/ https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-5000-zen-3-vermeer-undressed-... [2]: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-ampere-A100-gpu-7nm https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-ampere-A100-gpu-7nm