Intel restores the normal shipment of Xeon server processors

Previous reports suggested that due to the discovery of a new vulnerability, Intel had put a halt to the delivery of certain fourth-generation Xeon server processors (dual and quad models) from mid-June. Intel subsequently verified these claims in a statement, indicating that a subset of the 4th Generation Intel Xeon Medium Core Count Processors (SPR-MCC) with medium core counts had encountered an issue, which could interrupt system operation under certain conditions. Intel is diligently investigating the matter with the expectation of rectifying the situation through a firmware update.

According to TomsHardware, Intel forwarded a new statement confirming that they have devised a firmware patch and have recommenced the delivery of the affected products.

“Last week, we informed you of an issue on a subset of 4th Generation Intel Xeon Medium Core Count Processors (SPR-MCC) that could interrupt system operation under certain conditions. Out of an abundance of caution, we temporarily paused some SPR-MCC shipments while we thoroughly evaluated a firmware mitigation. We are now confident the firmware mitigation addresses the issue. We have resumed shipping all versions of SPR-MCC and are working with customers to deploy the firmware as needed.”

On Sapphire Rapids, Intel employs two types of underlying designs, namely the XCC, created from four compute modules on a single chip, and the MCC, which utilizes a single chip. The former is designed for chips with 36 to 60 cores, while the latter is intended for 32-core chips and is the most abundantly produced version of Sapphire Rapids. Additionally, Intel will provide a Xeon Max equipped with 64GB of HBM2e memory.