GPU Load Transient Management

Overview

GPU load transient management refers to the power electronics design and firmware techniques used to absorb GPU dynamic load fluctuations — preventing transient current spikes from propagating to the data center's AC facility power infrastructure. GPU workloads (particularly AI inference and training) create significant dynamic load swings: idle-to-full-load transitions can create ~150% input current overshoot without mitigation.

The primary engineering levers are: (1) increased bulk capacitance in the PSU to store energy locally and supply peak GPU demand without drawing excess current from the AC input; (2) digital PFC (Power Factor Correction) control on the AC-to-DC conversion stage that limits the rate of current draw during load steps; (3) firmware algorithms that combine these two mechanisms to "screen out" all transients.

LITEON's GB300 PSU implements a ~40% increase in bulk capacitance versus the GB200 design, resulting in measurably cleaner AC input waveforms under LLM inference workloads on NVL72 racks. The 110 kW three-phase shelf design achieves 100%+ increase in energy storage per watt (versus the 33 kW single-phase shelf) by exploiting three-phase ripple cancellation to free PCB space for additional capacitors; large GPU load steps result in only ~10% AC input current step changes.