Intel Meteor Lake-S and Emerald Rapids have been sampled and provided to customers for testing

Intel’s Meteor Lake-S and Emerald Rapids represent the next generation of client and server processors, with the former targeting desktop platforms and the latter constituting the fifth-generation Xeon Scalable processors.

Recently, Twitter user @Fan_of_Toasters revealed that Intel Meteor Lake-S and Emerald Rapids have entered the sampling phase. A document dated April 21st indicates that Intel is providing customers with R-0 stepping Emerald Rapids chips for testing. The samples will be integrated into PQS and graded according to the ES2 standard, signifying that the chip is slated for release later this year.

Emerald Rapids will maintain compatibility with Sapphire Rapids and continue to utilize the Eagle Stream platform. It will still employ the 10nm Enhanced SuperFin process, equivalent to Intel 7, albeit with higher overall efficiency. Emerald Rapids will feature Raptor Cove architecture cores, and optimized versions of the Golden Cove architecture, and are expected to deliver a 5% to 10% IPC improvement. With up to 64 cores and 128 threads, base frequencies will increase to 2.6 GHz, accompanied by 320MB of L3 cache and 128MB of L2 cache. The chips will support a maximum capacity of 4TB DDR5-5600 memory, and TDP will rise to 375W. Furthermore, the new chips will continue to support a range of accelerators, including Intel Data Streaming Accelerator, Intel QuickAssist Technology, Intel Dynamic Load Balancer, Intel Advanced Matrix Extensions, and Intel Memory Analytics Accelerator.

Arguably more significant is Meteor Lake-S, which had been rumored to be canceled for desktop platforms, leaving only a mobile version. The recent sampling suggests a strong likelihood that Meteor Lake-S will still be available for desktop platforms and ultimately released in some form. Intel is reportedly shipping Meteor Lake-S samples with sSpec numbers to OEM manufacturers, featuring A1 stepping.

According to previous reports, Meteor Lake-S will introduce a new LGA 1851 socket, maintaining compatibility with LGA 1700 sockets in terms of cooling solutions. However, it will reduce the number of Performance Cores while retaining the same number of Efficient Cores, resulting in a maximum core count of 22 and a total of 28 threads. The complete configuration list includes:

• Meteor Lake-S 22 (6P + 16E) / 4 Xe Cores / 125W TDP
• Meteor Lake-S 22 (6P + 16E) / 4 Xe Cores / 65W TDP
• Meteor Lake-S 22 (6P + 16E) / 4 Xe Cores / 35W TDP
• Meteor Lake-S 14 (6P + 8E) / 4 Xe Cores / 65W TDP
• Meteor Lake-S 14 (6P + 8E) / 4 Xe Cores / 35W TDP

Meteor Lake will employ second-generation hybrid architecture technology. P-Cores will adopt Redwood Cove architecture to replace Golden Cove, while E-Cores will transition from Gracemont to Crestmont architecture. Utilizing a Tile design, Meteor Lake will consist of multiple distinct modules, interconnected with EMIB technology and Foveros packaging technology. Rumor has it that Meteor Lake-S will feature 20 PCIe 5.0 lanes and 12 PCIe 4.0 lanes, with 16 PCIe 5.0 lanes dedicated to discrete graphics cards, 4 PCIe 5.0 lanes allocated to the first NVMe SSD, 4 PCIe 4.0 lanes assigned to the second NVMe SSD, and the remaining 8 PCIe 4.0 lanes used for the DMI bus, connecting to the PCH.