Intel’s Full Sapphire Rapids-SP Xeon CPU Lineup Leaks Out, Early Granite Rapids & Diamond Rapids Platform Information Revealed
Intel has officially revealed four next-gen Xeon CPU platforms that will launch in the coming years. These include Sapphire Rapids, Emerald Rapids, Granite Rapids, and Diamond Rapids. We already have lots of information covered for the Sapphire Rapids platform and the lineup itself but it looks like Intel has prepped up even more SKUs than what we had covered earlier as reported by YuuKi AnS.
Intel Sapphire Rapids-SP Xeon CPU Platform
The Sapphire Rapids lineup will make use of 8-channel DDR5 memory with speeds of up to 4800 Mbps & support PCIe Gen 5.0 on the Eagle Stream platform (C740 chipset). The lineup tops out at 60 cores which is the flagship die configuration with 15 cores enabled on each of the four chiplet dies. The Eagle Stream platform will also introduce the LGA 4677 socket which will be replacing the LGA 4189 socket for Intel’s upcoming Cedar Island & Whitley platform which would house Cooper Lake-SP and Ice Lake-SP processors, respectively. The Intel Sapphire Rapids-SP Xeon CPUs will also come with CXL 1.1 interconnect that will mark a huge milestone for the blue team in the server segment. Coming to the configurations, the top part is started to feature 60 cores with a TDP of 350W. What is interesting about this configuration is that it is listed as a low-bin split variant which means that it will be using a tile or MCM design. The Sapphire Rapids-SP Xeon CPU will be composed of a 4-tile layout with each tile featuring 14 cores. The Intel Sapphire Rapids-SP Xeon CPUs will come in four tiers:
Bronze Tier: 150W TDP Silver Tier: 145-165W TDP Gold Tier: 150-270W TDP Platinum Tier: 250-350W+ TDP
Additionally, each tier will be featured in specific segments which include:
2S Mainline SKUs (Xeon Gold / Silver) 2S Performance SKUs (Xeon Platinum / Gold) Liquid Cooled (Xeon Platinum / Gold) 1 Socket Optimized (Xeon Gold / Bronze) IOT Optimized Long-Life SKU (Xeon Silver) DB Optimized 4/8 Socket (Xeon Platinum / Gold) 5G / Networking Optimized (Xeon Platinum / Gold) Cloud Optimized IaaS/SaaS/Media (Xeon Platinum / Gold) Storage & HCI Optimized (Xeon Platinum / Gold)
— 结城安穗-YuuKi_AnS🍥 (@yuuki_ans) October 13, 2022 The TDPs listed here are at PL1 rating so the PL2 rating, as seen earlier, is going to be very high in the 400W+ range and the BIOS limit is expected to hover at around 700W+. Compared to the last listing where most of the SKUs were still in the ES1/ES2 state, the new specs are based on final chips which will be hitting retail. The flagship of the lineup is the Intel Xeon Platinum 8490H which offers 60 Golden Cove cores, 120 threads, 112.5 MB of L3 cache, 2.9 GHz all-core boost clocks, and a base TDP figure of 350W. This is optimized for up to 8 socket configurations for a total of 480 cores and 960 threads. Intel’s Full Sapphire Rapids-SP Xeon Lineup (Image Credits: YuuKi_AnS):
Intel Granite Rapids-SP 6th Gen Xeon CPU Family
Moving over to Granite Rapids-SP, this is where Intel really starts to make some big changes to its lineup. As of right now, Intel has confirmed that its Granite Rapids-SP Xeon CPUs will be based on the ‘Intel 4’ process node (Formely 7nm EUV). The lineup is expected to launch sometime between 2023 and 2024 as Emerald Rapids will be serving as an intermediary solution & not a proper Xeon family replacement. It is stated that Granite Rapids-SP Xeon chips will utilize the Redwood Cove core architecture and feature increased core counts though the exact number is not provided. Intel did tease a high-level overview of its Granite Rapids-SP CPU during its ‘Accelerated’ keynote which seemed to feature several dies packaged in a single SOC through EMIB. We can see HBM packages along with high-bandwidth Rambo Cache packages. The Compute tile seems to be composed of 60 cores per die which equals 120 cores in total but we should expect a few of those cores to be disabled to get better yields on the new Intel 4 process node. AMD will be increasing the core counts of its own Zen 4C EPYC lineup with Bergamo, pushing out up to 128 cores and 256 threads so, despite Intel doubling its core count, they still might not be able to match AMD’s disruptive multi-threaded and multi-core lead. But in terms of IPC, this is where Intel might start getting close to AMD’s Zen architecture in the server segment and back in the game. While previous rumors had mentioned 12-channel DDR5 & PCIe 6.0 support, the latest info states that the chips will come in HBM options and support 8-channel DDR5, PCIe 5.0, CXL 2.0, and PFR 4.0. So we’re nicely on track. So that will be a ‘23 product. And then Granite and Sierra Forest is the ‘24 product. And just to remind everybody, this is a major new platform. Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger (Q2 2022 Earnings Call)
Intel Diamond Rapids-SP 7th Gen Xeon CPU Family
Come Diamond Rapids-SP and Intel might finally have their big win against AMD since its first EPYC launch back in 2017. Diamond Rapids Xeon CPUs are expected to launch by 2025 with a radically new architecture that will be positioned against Zen 5. The EPYC Turin lineup based on Zen 5 won’t be coming slowly as AMD will be aware of Intel planning a comeback in the data center and server segment. So far, there are no details available as to what architecture or core count the new chips will offer but they will offer compatibility on the same Birch Stream & Mountain Stream platforms that will also support Granite Rapids-SP chips. The Diamond Rapids 7th Gen Xeon CPUs are expected to feature the enhanced Lion Cove cores on the Intel 3 (5nm) process node and offer up to 144 cores and 288 threads. For the platform itself, the chips are expected to offer up to 128 PCIe Gen 6.0 lanes, 8-channel DDR5 support, CXL Gen 3.0, and without any onboard PCH.
Next-Gen Intel Xeon vs AMD EPYC Generational CPU Comparison (Preliminary):
News Source: YuuKi_AnS
