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Guide To LLM Dissertation Writing

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Choosing the topic

Five key considerations when choosing your dissertation topic are:

• Why are you studying an LLM in thr first place?
• Which modules have you enjoyed the most?
• Which areas of the law have a good support base at your institution?
• What are the strengths of your law library?
• Is your potential topic a wide enough question?

Obviously, choosing a topic is a necessary stage to get underway before you can start researching and writing your dissertation. You should spend time carefully considering the subject of your dissertation as it might end up being the clincher for that  first job  after you finish your studies. Make sure you pick a topic that you find interesting, but that also has the balance of support from your lecturers and professors.

You'll need to be uniquely motivated to produce a dissertation about a subject that none of your lectures or professors knows much about. Understanding why you have picked the particular subject will ensure you're choosing the right topic, but don't spend too much time considering what to do as you'll need to get on with it. 

Dissertation support

You will have plenty of dissertation support organised through your law school. Some of it might be compulsory sessions that you must undertake as part of your LLM program, while others may be support sessions that can help you stay focused throughout your dissertation work.

Make sure you attend these sessions and don’t hesitate to ask questions if in doubt. It might be a good idea to share your dissertation structure with tutors or designated academic contacts that can give you feedback on your progress. Law school libraries usually have  books  that tell you how best to prepare for your dissertation. Keep an eye out for skills sessions on writing or research methods. These will prove useful when you get down to drafting content for your dissertation and will enable you to put to practice acquired skills that you picked up during these sessions.

Planning and organisation

Some people love creating a filing system and hopefully, you're one of them as this is a great way to organise your LLM dissertation. You'll need to keep your research well organised to enable you to quickly access it when you are writing your dissertation. It's a good idea to have research divided into chapters early on.

It's a good idea to follow a file management procedure to save your dissertation material. This material could consist of both printed (photocopies from the library or print-outs of research articles) and online documents. Try to follow a consistent labelling/naming convention so that you can locate documents quickly. For instance, if you have a vast number of online articles and research papers to go through, then categorise them in such a way that they fall under relevant chapters of your dissertation.

Any research you do online will need to be backed up, and of course, you will have the dissertation itself backed up too. Do not have everything saved on one ancient laptop, instead build in a routine for how you save and backup your data daily so it just becomes part of how you work. If you start as early as you can on your dissertation, then you'll be able to build in planning time and create a realistic timetable for your work, with escapes from your dissertation to let you reflect on what you have done so far. 

Researching

There is no easy or quick way around this, you are just going to have to get going with the research as soon as possible. Remember that law libraries get busy during the second semester so you'll need to get there early in the mornings or stay late sometimes.

You also don't want to wait around for particular texts that have a limited availability. If you realise you need a book that someone else has checked-out of the library, then let the staff know as soon as you know so you have a chance of getting it. Don't forget about online law libraries and resources too, and speak with your academic staff if you are really struggling to access what you need. 

Don't wait until you think you've done all the researching before you start writing up your findings. Writing up an LLM dissertation takes time and thought. Start writing as soon as you start researching and keep planning the chapters of your dissertation as you delve deeper into the research. With a bit of luck and good planning, you will find that the chapters are easy to write. 

Editing and formatting

Find out before you write a single word what format your dissertation needs to be in for printing and submission. Your law school will likely have their own standards, so you should familiarise yourself with this document before you get started. Establish the right format straight away so you are not spending time at the last minute changing formats or the way you have referenced the whole document.

Don't underestimate how long it will take to edit your dissertation – expect to read through each chapter many times as each read through will show you new and interesting mistakes. And if possible, find a willing friend or family member to give it a final read – fresh eyes are likely to pick up small typos or mistakes.  

Printing and submitting

Aim to finish your LLM dissertation with a little time to spare. Towards submission deadlines, university printers are busy places and if you need to print your dissertation at a particular printer then check with them early on to understand how much time they need to get your document ready. You need time for them to print it and time for you to check the printed material as you need to check for formatting errors or any printing mistakes like double pages.  Once you've written your dissertation you can take a calm walk into your submissions office and hand over your dissertation. Obviously, everything went to plan and you've finished your dissertation with time to spare and now it's time to  relax a little .

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Citing references and avoiding plagiarism

• Online tutorial: referencing and avoiding plagiarism This tutorial explains what plagiarism is and how to avoid it, why you should acknowledge your sources, an introduction to how to cite your references and to reference management software.
• Guide to references, citations and avoiding plagiarism This guide covers the role of referencing in academic writing and practice, and how to reference sources appropriately.

E-books about referencing

The Complete Guide to Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism

Why is accurate referencing important? How do I reference sources correctly? What must I do to avoid plagiarism in my written work? How can I use referencing to assert my own ideas? This excellent new edition of The Complete Guide to Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism continues to demystify the referencing process and provide essential guidance to make sure you are not committing plagiarism. 

Writing at University: a Guide for Students

Writing at University offers guidance on how to develop the writing you have to do at university along with a greater understanding of what is involved in this complex activity.  This edition includes a section on avoiding plagiarism. 

Reference management software

Reference management software packages can help you:

• Create a personal database of references relevant to you, along with associated files.
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• De-duplicate references retrieved from multiple sources.
• Share references with others.

There is a range of different software available; UCL Library Services provides support and guidance for Endnote, Zotero and Mendeley. These are all available to download for free or under UCL licences.

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HLS Dissertations, Theses, and JD Papers

S.j.d. dissertations, ll.m. papers, ll.m. theses, j.d. papers, submitting your paper to an online collection, other sources for student papers beyond harvard, getting help, introduction.

This is a guide to finding Harvard Law School (“HLS”) student-authored works held by the Library and in online collections. This guide covers HLS S.J.D Dissertations, LL.M. papers, J.D. third-year papers, seminar papers, and prize papers.

There have been changes in the HLS degree requirements for written work. The library’s collection practices and catalog descriptions for these works has varied. Please note that there are gaps in the library’s collection and for J.D. papers, few of these works are being collected any longer.

If we have an S.J.D. dissertation or LL.M. thesis, we have two copies. One is kept in the general collection and one in the Red Set, an archival collection of works authored by HLS affiliates. If we have a J.D. paper, we have only one copy, kept in the Red Set. Red Set copies are last resort copies available only by advance appointment in Historical and Special Collections .

Some papers have not been processed by library staff. If HOLLIS indicates a paper is “ordered-received” please use this form to have library processing completed.

The HLS Doctor of Juridical Science (“S.J.D.”) program began in 1910.  The library collection of these works is not comprehensive. Exceptions are usually due to scholars’ requests to withhold Library deposit. 

• HLS S.J.D. Dissertations in HOLLIS To refine these search results by topic or faculty advisor, or limit by date, click Add a New Line.
• Hein’s Legal Theses and Dissertations Microfiche Mic K556.H45x Drawers 947-949 This microfiche set includes legal theses and dissertations from HLS and other premier law schools. It currently includes about 300 HLS dissertations and theses.
• Hein's Legal Theses and Dissertations Contents List This content list is in order by school only, not by date, subject or author. It references microfiche numbers within the set housed in the Microforms room on the entry level of the library, drawers 947-949. The fiche are a different color for each institution.
• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses @ Harvard University (Harvard login) Copy this search syntax: dg(S.J.D.) You will find about 130 SJD Dissertations dated from 1972 to 2004. They are not available in full text.
• DASH Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard Sponsored by Harvard University’s Office for Scholarly Communication, DASH is an open repository for research papers by members of the Harvard community. There are currently about 600 HLS student papers included. Unfortunately it is not possible to search by type of paper or degree awarded.

The Master of Laws (“LL.M.”) degree has been awarded since 1923. Originally, the degree required completion of a major research paper, akin to a thesis. Since 1993, most students have the option of writing the LL.M. "short paper."  This is a 25-page (or longer) paper advised by a faculty supervisor or completed in conjunction with a seminar.  Fewer LL.M. candidates continue to write the more extensive "long-paper." LL.M. candidates holding J.D.s from the U.S. must write the long paper.

• HLS Written Work Requirements for LL.M. Degree The current explanation of the LL.M. written work requirement for the master of laws.

The library generally holds HLS LL.M. long papers and short papers. In recent years, we require author release in order to do so. In HOLLIS, no distinction is made between types of written work created in satisfaction of the LL.M. degree; all are described as LL.M. thesis. Though we describe them as thesis, the law school refers to them solely as papers or in earlier years, essays. HOLLIS records indicate the number of pages, so at the record level, it is possible to distinguish long papers.

• HLS LL.M. Papers in HOLLIS To refine these search results by topic, faculty advisor, seminar or date, click Add a New Line.

HLS LL.M. Papers are sometimes available in DASH and Hein's Legal Dissertations and Theses. See descriptions above .

The HLS J.D. written work requirement has changed over time. The degree formerly required a substantial research paper comparable in scope to a law review article written under faculty supervision, the "third year paper." Since 2008, J.D. students have the option of using two shorter works instead.

Of all those written, the library holds relatively few third-year papers. They were not actively collected but accepted by submission from faculty advisors who deemed a paper worthy of institutional retention. The papers are described in HOLLIS as third year papers, seminar papers, and student papers. Sometimes this distinction was valid, but not always. The faculty deposit tradition more or less ended in 2006, though the possibility of deposit still exists. 

• J.D. Written Work Requirement
• Faculty Deposit of Student Papers with the Library

HLS Third Year Papers in HOLLIS

To refine these search results by topic, faculty advisor, seminar or date, click Add a New Line.

• HLS Student Papers Some third-year papers and LL.M. papers were described in HOLLIS simply as student papers. To refine these search results, click "Add a New Line" and add topic, faculty advisor, or course title.
• HLS Seminar Papers Note that these include legal research pathfinders produced for the Advanced Legal Research course when taught by Virginia Wise.

Prize Papers

HLS has many endowed prizes for student papers and essays. There are currently 16 different writing prizes. See this complete descriptive list with links to lists of winners from 2009 to present. Note that there is not always a winner each year for each award. Prize winners are announced each year in the commencement pamphlet.

The Library has not specifically collected prize papers over the years but has added copies when possible. The HOLLIS record for the paper will usually indicate its status as a prize paper. The most recent prize paper was added to the collection in 2006.

Addison Brown Prize Animal Law & Policy Program Writing Prize Victor Brudney Prize Davis Polk Legal Profession Paper Prize Roger Fisher and Frank E.A. Sander Prize Yong K. Kim ’95 Memorial Prize Islamic Legal Studies Program Prize on Islamic Law Laylin Prize LGBTQ Writing Prize Mancini Prize Irving Oberman Memorial Awards John M. Olin Prize in Law and Economics Project on the Foundations of Private Law Prize Sidney I. Roberts Prize Fund Klemens von Klemperer Prize Stephen L. Werner Prize

• Harvard Law School Prize Essays (1850-1868) A historical collection of handwritten prize essays covering the range of topics covered at that time. See this finding aid for a collection description.

The following information about online repositories is not a recommendation or endorsement to participate.

• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses HLS is not an institutional participant to this collection. If you are interested in submitting your work, refer to these instructions and note that there is a fee required, which varies depending on the format of submission.
• EBSCO Open Dissertations Relatively new, this is an open repository of metadata for dissertations. It is an outgrowth of the index American Doctoral Dissertations. The aim is to cover 1933 to present and, for modern works, to link to full text available in institutional repositories. Harvard is not one of the institutional participants.
• DASH Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard

Sponsored by Harvard University’s Office for Scholarly Communication, this is an open repository for research papers by members of the Harvard community. See more information about the project. 

Some HLS students have submitted their degree paper to DASH.  If you would like to submit your paper, you may use this authorization form  or contact June Casey , Librarian for Open Access Initiatives and Scholarly Communication at Harvard Law School.

• ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (Harvard Login) Covers dissertations and masters' theses from North American graduate schools and many worldwide. Provides full text for many since the 1990s and has descriptive data for older works.
• NDLTD Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations Union Catalog Worldwide in scope, NDLTD contains millions of records of electronic theses and dissertations from the early 1900s to the present.
• Law Commons of the Digital Commons Network The Law Commons has dissertations and theses, as well as many other types of scholarly research such as book chapters and conference proceedings. They aim to collect free, full-text scholarly work from hundreds of academic institutions worldwide.
• EBSCO Open Dissertations Doctoral dissertations from many institutions. Free, open repository.
• Dissertations from Center for Research Libraries Dissertations found in this resource are available to the Harvard University Community through Interlibrary Loan.
• British Library EThOS Dissertation source from the British Library listing doctoral theses awarded in the UK. Some available for immediate download and some others may be requested for scanning.
• BASE from Bielefeld University Library Index of the open repositoris of most academic institutions. Includes many types of documents including doctoral and masters theses.

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Ucl - caveat emptor.

Posted Nov 28, 2011 17:35

Hi guys, I recently completed an LL.M in I.P. at UCL and I want to share my experience with prospective students. I was left extremely disappointed by the overall experience. With over 400 LL.M students, I couldn't help but feel that I was nothing more than a sheep in the herd. Classes were often too big to encourage any meaningful dialogue with professors and any attempts to contact them out of class were met with great reluctance. But the real kicker is the lack of feedback or academic guidance which students receive. Despite being enrolled in three modules and writing a dissertation, I never once received any sort of perspective on my assessed course work from my professors. I was given a grade but no information as to what I did well or how I could improve it. There was no critique or constructive criticism whatsoever. In one instance I even tried to arrange a meeting with one professor to discuss an essay that I had written in his course (which I never received any feedback on) and he flat out refused to meet me, saying he had "no obligation to do so." For a university of UCL's stature I found this incredibly frustrating and disheartening. The behaviour of my professors left me questioning the academic integrity of the school. UCL is the third university that I have attended (the others are Trinity College Dublin and Emory University in Atlanta) and while being the highest ranked, it has been the least satisfying experience. I cannot say that I would recommend UCL because it feels like a money-making machine (420 mostly international LL.M students x £14,000 tuition = one big endowment) If you have the choice I have friends who have had great experiences at KCL and LSE and I wish that I went to either one instead. But if you do choose UCL, buyer beware! Please feel free to send me a message if you have any questions as I wish I had been privy to this information before starting. K

Posted Nov 28, 2011 19:31

hey... any idea about the litigation and dispute resolution faculty?

Posted Nov 28, 2011 21:25

Sorry to hear you had such a terrible experience at UCL. However, as a UCL LLM alumnus myself I think I should jump in to give some perspective. I dont question that you indeed underwent a terrible time while at UCL, but I cant say that my experience was exactly the same as yours. I also chose three modules (in fact, I chose five as two of those were half modules). Four out of the five modules that I took on had about 20 students in each seminar. Although this cant be considered a very small group it did allow discussions and conversations with the professors. Most of the time, however, I felt students werent all that interested in engaging in those discussions. One module specific had more than 50 students and that really made any efforts to have discussions during seminars impossible. As seminars ended up being just an exposition of what you shouldve read beforehand as part of your essential reading, it became quite a boring module. Nevertheless, on account of the high number of students enrolled on such module, they set up weekly tutorials over the second term. These tutorials had around 20 people and took place once a week in the second term. This significantly improved the quality of the module. I didnt have to write any essay apart, of course, from the dissertation. So I cant really comment on course work feedback. I can say though that all my lecturers asked at some point for us to write answers to mock exam questions. And I got a feedback from all of them on those explaining what I shouldve done differently and what I should keep doing for the actual exam. So they did help us to prepare for the exams. As for the dissertation, I must say you dont get as much guidance as you first think youre gonna get but overall I reckon my supervisor helped me out fairly with the dissertation. I had at least two meetings with her before choosing my topic and I had three meetings with her afterwards while I was writing. I didnt send the 3,000-word extract for her analysis so I obviously didnt get any feedback. But I know of people who did and actually had a strong input from their supervisors. Well, that being said I believe my experience at UCL was quite different than yours. I can only say I am sorry you are so disappointed in the LLM program at UCL as I know it didnt come cheap I do have to agree with you on one thing though: the student intake is growing each year (as this is quite a profitable activity for UK universities) so theres a real risk that the quality of teaching may plunge fast. And I would report this professor who refused to meet you. This is something that you as a student shouldn't have to put up with... Best,

Posted Nov 29, 2011 18:25

hey beicon... what did you specialise in ? and do you have any inputs regarding the litigation and dipute resolution faculty ?

Posted Nov 29, 2011 19:09

Hi. I decided not to specialize in any particular area even though all of my modules (except one) fell into the public international law specialization. Sorry but I don't have any inputs on the litigation and dispute resolution faculty... if I'm not mistaken though I remember this modules was taught in conjunction with Queen Mary....

Posted Dec 08, 2011 17:01

Vinam sorry I didn't study any of the dispute resolution modules. Beicon it seems like you got lucky with your course choice and your professors. I got feedback from my complaint from the Director of LL.M Taught Programmes at UCL today. Here it is: "Dear _______ Thank you for your email. I have looked into this matter and corresponded with Prof. Barendt and Prof. Robert Chambers, the Vice-Dean for Teaching and Learning and Prof Richard Rawlings who coordinates Quality Assurance on the LLM. Faculty policy is that we offer feedback to students who fail, while feedback to students who pass is at the discretion of the course convenor. In this instance Prof Barendt has declined to offer you feedback on your grade. He is within his rights to do so and cannot be compelled to provide feedback. I would suggest that at research-intensive universities, lecturers do not always have the resources in terms of time, to provide feedback to students that have passed assessments. The disadvantages of this are obvious. The advantage is that students are taught by world-leading academics who are teaching from their own research interests. In a teaching and learning based institution, lecturers can employ a more generous policy to student feedback as teaching is their primary role. Again, the advantages of this are obvious, however students would not be necessarily learning from a research-intensive academic or author directly. The policy in relation to feedback has been raised frequently through the faculty boards and committees and the agreed position is the current one. I can assure you that the well-argued position you put forward has been well ventilated at these committees and has had a large degree of support, however the majority of colleagues have supported a more limited feedback policy, preferring to create more time for the research that UCL is renowned for. I know that you will be disappointed with my answer. I can assure you that your paper was marked and moderated in line with our rigorous assessment policy. If you wish to pursue a complaint the procedure is for you to raise a grievance with UCL centrally. This would be dealt with outside the faculty. The link for further information in this regard is: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/academic-manual/part-5/student-grievance-procedure Let me know if you need anything else. Yours sincerely Mark Blakely" After paying 15,500 in tuition I want more than an "assurance" that my essary has been marked. I want the hard-copy back with the professor's notes in the margin. Clearly, this is too much from UCL. So if you do want to go to UCL and want spend a ridiculous amount of money to learn from research-intensive academics and authors, while not benefiting from any academic dialogue, let me give you a piece of advice - buy their books and save yourself the money.

Posted Dec 08, 2011 17:39

What a lame excuse they've given you, eh? Anyways, I understand that you're pissed off and you've got all the reasons to be... It's not too much to ask to get at least a copy of your essay and exams with the professor's comments... that should be in fact the rule!

Posted Dec 09, 2011 22:54

It's not too much to ask to get at least a copy of your essay and exams with the professor's comments... that should be in fact the rule!

Posted Dec 14, 2011 20:17

Oh Flori it gets worse... I contacted my Dissertation supervisor on 24 November to see if I could meet with her to discuss the merits/fallacies of the thesis which I submitted in September or, at the very least, collect a comment sheet from her at the graduate office. Her response? "I am currently on maternity leave, returning in July 2012. Best wishes, Ilanah Fhima" The school is a joke.

Posted Dec 14, 2011 20:21

I do not fault her for being pregnant, but why is is there not a system in place whereby a professor going on maternity leave is restricted from supervisory duties due to their restricted capacity? Why did it take three weeks to respond? Why, if she can read and grade my Dissertation, is she not able to provide feedback?

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UCL Department of Economics

The MSc Dissertation

From June – early September students undertake a research project, lightly supervised by a member of faculty , and submit a 10,000 word dissertation on or before the deadline in early September. A good dissertation will be a piece of original research, the best dissertations are published . The three-months dissertation project gives you the opportunity to acquire and enhance a number of skills including research skills, project management, organisation, software and writing.

The research methods course supports you in this project, providing training in:

• Research and academic writing skills
• Software (Matlab, Python, R, and Stata)
• Empirical econometric skills.

In total, over 30 hours of lecture support skill acquisition directly relevant to the dissertation project. Helpdesks are also provided during the dissertation writing period. Dissertations fall into four categories:

Empirical Empirical dissertations typically take an econometric model from an existing paper and applying it to a new data set and / or extending it. Such a project involves:

•     A brief critical literature review of your chosen area
•     Finding and understanding your dataset
•     Learning the appropriate software
•     Implementing your model
•     Understanding, criticising and checking the robustness of your results.

Examples of recent empirical dissertations are:

•     Corruption and Education in the Developing World
•     Analysis of Chinese Stock Market Efficiency
•     UK Wage Flexibility in the Aftermath of the Great Recession
•     Hedonstic wage estimation and the market for head teachers: Evidence for England
•     Does Microcredit Crowd Out Traditional Moneylending? An Example From Hyderabad.
•     Estimating the Competitive Structure of the UK Petrol Retail Industry
•     The impact of paid work on women’s empowerment.

Theoretical Theoretical dissertations typically take model from an existing paper and extending it in some interesting way. Such a project involves:

•     Acquiring a deep understanding of your model, in the context of the core material you’ve covered

Examples of recent theoretical dissertations are:

•     An Investigation of a Network Targeting Model with Bounded Rational Consumers
•     The finite sample performance of single equation models of ordered choice
•     Rotating Savings and Credit Associations: A Theoretical Analysis
•     News aggregators and search engines: Thumping entrants in the newspapers industry
•     Disaster risk in a New Keynesian model

Policy Policy dissertations undertake a critical analysis of some previously unexplored policy or policy issue. Such a project involves:

•     A description of the economic principles involved in the policy decision
•     A critical appraisal of existing or proposed policies.

Note policy dissertations may often involve an empirical component Examples of recent dissertations are:

•     An assessment of the second round of quantitative easing policy in the UK: A BVAR approach
•     Capital controls on outflows during financial crises: Are they effective?
•     The technological factors in the economies of developing countries: Comparison of the effectiveness of public policies on innovation in Chile for local research and inward technology transfer
•     Welfare participation by immigrants in the UK
•     A study upon market structure characterised by regulation: Information and oligopoly conditions.

Analytical Survey An analytical survey dissertation provides a clear outline of the intellectual development of the a particular area. Such a project involves:

•     A thorough understanding of the literature in your chosen area
•     Explaining the extent to which different contributors were addressing similar of different questions and in what sense and how far one contribution marks a significant improvement over earlier ones.
•     Critically assessing the different contributions and of the field as a whole.

Examples of recent dissertations are:

•     Heterogeneous Adaptive Learning in Real Business Cycle Models
•     The Great Moderation: A critical survey since the crisis
•     What are the social costs and benefits of reversing innovations in mortgage markets?
•     What explains the top income surge?
•     A survey on observational learning and informational cascades: Are observational conditions simple enough to warrant simple predictions?

"I feel the course provided me with a far more sophisticated understanding of macroeconomic policy and a wealth of useful technical econometrics skills"

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Still have questions?  Follow the link below to a list of frequently asked questions.  

Economics Handbook for MSc Students

If you have any questions please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions section of this website.

For further information please see the UCL pages for current students , or contact: [email protected]

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NVIDIA Hopper Leaps Ahead in Generative AI at MLPerf

It’s official: NVIDIA delivered the world’s fastest platform in industry-standard tests for inference on generative AI .

In the latest MLPerf benchmarks, NVIDIA TensorRT-LLM — software that speeds and simplifies the complex job of inference on large language models — boosted the performance of NVIDIA Hopper architecture GPUs on the GPT-J LLM nearly 3x over their results just six months ago.

The dramatic speedup demonstrates the power of NVIDIA’s full-stack platform of chips, systems and software to handle the demanding requirements of running generative AI.

Leading companies are using TensorRT-LLM to optimize their models. And NVIDIA NIM   — a set of inference microservices that includes inferencing engines like TensorRT-LLM — makes it easier than ever for businesses to deploy NVIDIA’s inference platform.

Raising the Bar in Generative AI

TensorRT-LLM running on NVIDIA H200 Tensor Core GPUs — the latest, memory-enhanced Hopper GPUs — delivered the fastest performance running inference in MLPerf’s biggest test of generative AI to date.

The new benchmark uses the largest version of Llama 2, a state-of-the-art large language model packing 70 billion parameters. The model is more than 10x larger than the GPT-J LLM first used in the September benchmarks .

The memory-enhanced H200 GPUs, in their MLPerf debut, used TensorRT-LLM to produce up to 31,000 tokens/second, a record on MLPerf’s Llama 2 benchmark.

The H200 GPU results include up to 14% gains from a custom thermal solution. It’s one example of innovations beyond standard air cooling that systems builders are applying to their NVIDIA MGX designs to take the performance of Hopper GPUs to new heights.

Memory Boost for NVIDIA Hopper GPUs

NVIDIA is sampling H200 GPUs to customers today and shipping in the second quarter. They’ll be available soon from nearly 20 leading system builders and cloud service providers.

H200 GPUs pack 141GB of HBM3e running at 4.8TB/s. That’s 76% more memory flying 43% faster compared to H100 GPUs. These accelerators plug into the same boards and systems and use the same software as H100 GPUs.

With HBM3e memory, a single H200 GPU can run an entire Llama 2 70B model with the highest throughput, simplifying and speeding inference.

GH200 Packs Even More Memory

Even more memory — up to 624GB of fast memory, including 144GB of HBM3e — is packed in NVIDIA GH200 Superchips , which combine on one module a Hopper architecture GPU and a power-efficient NVIDIA Grace CPU . NVIDIA accelerators are the first to use HBM3e memory technology.

With nearly 5 TB/second memory bandwidth, GH200 Superchips delivered standout performance, including on memory-intensive MLPerf tests such as recommender systems .

Sweeping Every MLPerf Test

On a per-accelerator basis, Hopper GPUs swept every test of AI inference in the latest round of the MLPerf industry benchmarks.

In addition, NVIDIA Jetson Orin remains at the forefront in MLPerf’s edge category. In the last two inference rounds, Orin ran the most diverse set of models in the category, including GPT-J and Stable Diffusion XL.

The MLPerf benchmarks cover today’s most popular AI workloads and scenarios, including generative AI, recommendation systems, natural language processing, speech and computer vision. NVIDIA was the only company to submit results on every workload in the latest round and every round since MLPerf’s data center inference benchmarks began in October 2020.

Continued performance gains translate into lower costs for inference, a large and growing part of the daily work for the millions of NVIDIA GPUs deployed worldwide.

Advancing What’s Possible

Pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, NVIDIA demonstrated three innovative techniques in a special section of the benchmarks called the open division, created for testing advanced AI methods.

NVIDIA engineers used a technique called structured sparsity — a way of reducing calculations, first introduced with NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPUs — to deliver up to 33% speedups on inference with Llama 2.

A second open division test found inference speedups of up to 40% using pruning, a way of simplifying an AI model — in this case, an LLM — to increase inference throughput.

Finally, an optimization called DeepCache reduced the math required for inference with the Stable Diffusion XL model, accelerating performance by a whopping 74%.

All these results were run on NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs .

A Trusted Source for Users

MLPerf’s tests are transparent and objective, so users can rely on the results to make informed buying decisions.

NVIDIA’s partners participate in MLPerf because they know it’s a valuable tool for customers evaluating AI systems and services. Partners submitting results on the NVIDIA AI platform in this round included ASUS, Cisco, Dell Technologies, Fujitsu, GIGABYTE, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Lenovo, Microsoft Azure, Oracle, QCT, Supermicro, VMware (recently acquired by Broadcom) and Wiwynn.

All the software NVIDIA used in the tests is available in the MLPerf repository. These optimizations are continuously folded into containers available on NGC , NVIDIA’s software hub for GPU applications, as well as NVIDIA AI Enterprise — a secure, supported platform that includes NIM inference microservices.

The Next Big Thing  

The use cases, model sizes and datasets for generative AI continue to expand. That’s why MLPerf continues to evolve, adding real-world tests with popular models like Llama 2 70B and Stable Diffusion XL.

Keeping pace with the explosion in LLM model sizes, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang announced last week at GTC that the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture GPUs will deliver new levels of performance required for the multitrillion-parameter AI models.

Inference for large language models is difficult, requiring both expertise and the full-stack architecture NVIDIA demonstrated on MLPerf with Hopper architecture GPUs and TensorRT-LLM. There’s much more to come.

Learn more about MLPerf benchmarks and the technical details of this inference round.

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