Intel reveals more server product details
During the illustrious Hot Chips conference, Intel unveiled its forthcoming lineup of Xeon series products. This roster includes the ‘Sierra Forest’ and ‘Granite Rapids’, both utilizing a diverse amalgamation of P-core and E-core architectures. Additionally, the ‘Emerald Rapids’, slated to be the fifth generation of the Xeon Scalable expandable server processor, was showcased alongside new features for the Agilex 9 Direct RF-series FPGA application products.
The fifth-generation Xeon Scalable expandable server processor, codenamed ‘Emerald Rapids’, is poised for release in the year’s final quarter. Building upon the monumental milestone of its predecessor, the ‘Sapphire Rapids’, which saw a cumulative shipment of over a million units, this release aims to catalyze Intel’s evolution in the data center product realm. This iteration integrates a novel core combination of P-core and E-core, with support for cutting-edge DDR memory specifications and high-bandwidth transmission standards. Additionally, the Intel Flat Memory Mode technology facilitates hardware-managed data transfers between DDR5 and CXL memory, coupled with software-defined control over total memory usage. Regarding its channels, it can accommodate up to 136 PCIe 5.0 or CXL 2.0 channels and supports six I/O ports linked via UPI.
The ‘Sierra Forest’ product, emblematic of Intel’s pioneering venture into E Core energy-efficient core designs for the Xeon Scalable expandable server processor, also stands as the inaugural product to harness Intel’s third-generation manufacturing process. With a staggering capability of up to 144 core groups, it establishes a record for multi-system boot utilization. Tailored primarily for cloud virtualization and multitasking computational applications, its release is anticipated in the first half of 2024. According to Intel, ‘Sierra Forest’ promises a server rack utilization density surge of 2.5 times, with a per-watt efficiency augmentation of up to 2.4 times. Thermal design power can be as efficient as 200W, complemented by heightened security, virtualization, and modern instruction sets such as AVX. It is also endowed with foundational memory RAS features, standard machine checks, and data cache ECC functionalities.
Following the ‘Sierra Forest’, the ‘Granite Rapids’ product is set to be launched, although its definitive release timeline remains shrouded in mystery. Emulating the design philosophy of the ‘Sierra Frost’, it aims to expedite the product’s release. A salient feature is its touted industry-fastest memory channel, leveraging a novel DIMM slot known as MCR, which in DDR5 memory modules can attain data transfer speeds reaching an impressive 8800MHz. This surpasses most industry memory standards by offering up to 80% peak transmission bandwidth.
Intel emphasizes that ‘Granite Rapids’ can bolster artificial intelligence workload performance by 2-3 times, fortifying the Intel AMX instruction set. This enhancement includes support for FP16 operations, catering specifically to intensive computational workloads by providing augmented memory bandwidth, processor core count, and cache memory capacity.
Furthermore, Intel’s Agilex 9 Direct RF-series FPGA application products incorporate a 64Gps data converter, along with a groundbreaking broadband agility reference design. Within a single multi-chip package, it encapsulates both broadband and narrowband receivers. Remarkably, the broadband receiver can offer an RF bandwidth of up to 32GHz for FPGA computations.
