Intel’s 34-Core Raptor Lake-S CPU Die Shown Off, Hinting At Possible HEDT Launch

Hassan Mujtaba
Intel 13th Gen Non-K & Core i9-13900KS Desktop CPUs Listed Online: Starting at $125 US & Up To $725 US 1
At Intel Innovation on Sept. 27, 2022, Intel revealed its new 13th Gen Intel Core processor family powered by Intelโ€™s performance hybrid architecture. The new processor family launched with six new unlocked desktop processors. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

An unreleased 34-Core Intel Raptor Lake-S Desktop CPU die has been spotted by the folks over at Tomshardware during the Innovation 2022 event. The die was accidentally showcased and while there's no official processor that uses it yet, it might possibly ship in a future HEDT lineup.

Intel's Unannounced Raptor Lake-S CPU Die Features Up To 34 Raptor Cove P-Cores

During the Innovation 2022 event in San Jose, Intel showed off a wafer of their Raptor Lake CPU dies to the attendees but upon closer look, the die matched none of the Raptor Lake CPUs that have been announced so far.

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Intel Raptor Lake-S 34-Core CPU Die/Wafer Shot (Image Credits: Tomshardware):

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Simply looking at the size of each of the Raptor Cove cores on the wafer, it looks like this specific configuration has larger cores than the ones featured on the mainstream lineup. As of right now, Intel has only released up to 24 cores and 32 thread dies. This top die will be featured on the flagship Core i9-13900K & Core i9-13900KS chips that were announced yesterday. So a 34-core die is probably going to end up as an entirely different SKU. Also, the 13th Gen Raptor Lake-S mainstream lineup uses a mix of P-Cores & E-Cores whereas the 34-core die uses P-Cores entirely.

But that's not all, besides the Raptor Cove cores being larger, it also looks like the 34-core die features a Mesh interconnect rather than the Ring Bus used by mainstream chips. The Mesh interconnect is more common on the Intel HEDT, Workstation, and Server offerings. As such, it is fair to speculate that this might be a HEDT / Workstation part rather than a mainstream SKU.

What makes it even more apparent as a HEDT / Workstation offering is the fact that the full die is much larger to be incorporated on the LGA 1700 or 1800 socket. The cores are also arranged in multiple rows which doesn't go in line with the dual-core rows that we saw on the mainstream SKUs. There are also eight DDR5 memory channels that can be spotted on the die.

A mock-up of the 34-core Intel Raptor Lake-S CPU die. (Credits: Skyjuice @ Angstronomics)

SkyJuice from tech outlet, Angstronomics, already has a mock-up of the 34-core Intel Raptor Lake-S die. The specific SKU should feature 34 Raptor Cove cores, 68 threads, 68 MB of L2 cache, 63.75 MB of L3 cache, 8-channel DDR5, and 80 PCIe Gen 5 + DMI lanes.

It is likely that this die would be part of the Sapphire Rapids Workstation line which will feature several mainstream Xeon SKUs. This "MCC" die will sit in between the LCC and XCC parts. The lineup is expected to feature as many as 56 cores, 112 threads, 112 PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes and will be compatible with the FIshhawk Falls / Eagle Stream (LGA 4677) platform. You can read more details on that here. We can't say for sure when Intel plans to launch these chips but it should most likely be next year since we haven't heard anything from them at the Innovation event.

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