feat(backend): auto-default physical batch to 2048 on Blackwell GPUs

On NVIDIA Blackwell consumer GPUs (sm_120/121, incl. GB10/DGX Spark) a larger
physical batch (n_ubatch) materially lifts MoE prefill throughput - measured on
a GB10 with Qwen3-30B-A3B to lift the prefill ceiling and saturate at ~2048.

When a model config leaves `batch:` unset, EffectiveBatchSize now picks 2048 on
Blackwell instead of 512; explicit `batch:` always overrides. Detection is a
shared, cached Go helper (xsysinfo.IsNVIDIABlackwell, nvidia-smi compute_cap
>= 12). Logic is isolated in core/backend/hardware_defaults.go and applied at
the common ModelOptions builder, so it covers the C++ llama.cpp backend too.

Measured (GB10, Qwen3-Coder-30B-A3B MXFP4): prefill ub512 2994 -> ub2048 3316
t/s; saturates past 2048. Also recorded in the DGX gap plan: 4-bit quant alone
captures the decode win (Q4_K_M 93.5 >= MXFP4 86.4 t/s), MXFP4's only edge is
prefill via Blackwell FP4 tensor cores.

Tests: hardware_defaults_internal_test.go; existing NBatch specs pinned to the
no-Blackwell branch for determinism.

Assisted-by: Claude:opus-4.8 [Claude Code]
Signed-off-by: Ettore Di Giacinto <mudler@localai.io>
This commit is contained in:
Ettore Di Giacinto
2026-06-19 20:46:45 +00:00
parent 7aa61d4c32
commit aba0bfd24f
6 changed files with 191 additions and 13 deletions

View File

@@ -85,9 +85,24 @@ Concurrency (decode-phase aggregate `S_TG`, ub2048), MXFP4 vs Q8 vs vLLM-FP8:
**Lever-1 verdict:** MXFP4 is a large, free win — decode +5066% over Q8, prefill plateau +66% (2200→3650). MXFP4 decode **wins at B=1, near-parity at B=8** vs vLLM; only falls behind at high concurrency. **Prefill still plateaus (~3650)** — the MoE prefill GEMM doesn't scale with batch (no fused grouped GEMM; ubatch-limited). That plateau is the real remaining structural gap → Levers 23. Quality caveat unchanged (MXFP4 4-bit vs vLLM FP8 8-bit; quality not yet evaluated).
### Lever 2 — `n_ubatch` / `n_batch` tuning (standalone)
Status: **DONE**
Status: **DONE + SHIPPED (auto-default implemented)**
MXFP4 pp4096 vs ubatch: ub512=2994, **ub2048=3316**, ub4096=2820(noisy), ub8192=3180.
**Verdict:** prefill saturates at ub=2048; larger ubatch gives nothing. The ~33003650 ceiling is the **MoE GEMM kernel**, not batch size. → No more free config wins; the rest is kernel work (Levers 35). Recommendation: ship `n_ubatch=2048` as the LocalAI default for MoE prefill on Blackwell.
**Verdict:** prefill saturates at ub=2048; larger ubatch gives nothing. The ~33003650 ceiling is the **MoE GEMM kernel**, not batch size. → No more free config wins; the rest is kernel work (Levers 35).
**Implemented:** `core/backend/hardware_defaults.go``EffectiveBatchSize` now defaults the physical batch
(n_batch→n_ubatch alias) to **2048 on Blackwell** (`xsysinfo.IsNVIDIABlackwell`, cc≥12 / sm_120/121) when the
config leaves `batch:` unset; explicit `batch:` always wins. Detection is a shared Go helper; placed at the
common ModelOptions builder so it covers the C++ llama.cpp backend too. Tests: `hardware_defaults_internal_test.go`.
### Lever 1b — Standard Q4 vs MXFP4 (what's actually MXFP4-specific)
**Q4_K_M** (17.3 GiB) vs **MXFP4** (15.9 GiB), ub2048:
| metric | Q4_K_M | MXFP4 | Q8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| decode tg128 | **93.5** | 86.4 | 62.2 |
| prefill pp512 | 2164 | **3061** | 2215 |
| prefill pp2048 | 2953 | **3441** | ~2200 |
**Verdict:** the **decode win is just "4-bit"** — plain Q4_K_M matches/beats MXFP4 on decode (both memory-bound).
MXFP4's *only* real edge is **prefill (+41% over Q4_K_M)** via Blackwell FP4 tensor cores. So for shipping,
**"4-bit quant + ubatch=2048" captures most of the win portably**; MXFP4 is a Blackwell-only prefill extra.
### Lever 3 — Fused FP4/FP8 MoE grouped GEMM (+ activation-quant fusion)
Status: **DESIGNED, not built** (multi-week kernel R&D). This is the single biggest remaining prefill win.