Intel Demos Next-Gen Granite Rapids Xeon CPUs With DDR5-6400 Memory Support

Intel has showcased a new demo of its next-gen Granite Rapids Xeon CPUs featuring DDR5-6400 memory support.

Intel Granite Rapids 6th Gen Xeon Scalable CPU Family Showcased With DDR5-6400 Memory Support

On the 10th of January 2023, Intel will officially launch its 4th Gen Sapphire Rapids Xeon lineup that utilizes their 10nm ESF process node. Soon after that, the company also plans to launch the HBM2e variants and then move towards the volume ramp of their 5th Gen Emerald Rapids family.

During its latest Innovation 2022 event hosted in Taipei, Taiwan, the blue team demonstrated its Sapphire Rapids platform running DDR5-5600 memory which is an increase from DDR5-4800 and DDR5-5200. But during the demo run, Intel also showcased a memory stress test of DDR5-6400 being run on its future Xeon Scalable Processor. The platform was running 1DPC (Single DIMM per Channel).

From what we know, neither Sapphire Rapids nor Emerald Rapids Xeon Scalable CPUs support DDR5-6400 natively. So this could be our first look at the 6th Gen Granite Rapids CPU which will launch around 2024 and utilize the "Intel 3" process node.

Intel Granite Rapids-SP 6th Gen Xeon CPU Family

With its 6th Gen Granite Rapids-SP Xeon scalable family, Intel is expected to make 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 3' process node (Formely 5nm 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 3 process node.

So we feel very comfortable with that. We're then working very closely -- emerald goes into the Sapphire platform. So we're working very closely with our customers on the timing there. The product is looking very healthy.

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)

On Intel 4, we are progressing towards a high-volume manufacturing and will tape out the production stepping at Meteor Lake in Q4. The first stepping of Granite Rapids is out of the fab, yielding well with Intel 3 continuing to progress on schedule. Intel 4 and 3 are our first nodes deploying EUV and will represent a major step forward in terms of transistor performance per watt and density.

Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger (Q3 2022 Earnings Call)

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.

Next-Gen Intel Xeon vs AMD EPYC Generational CPU Comparison (Preliminary):

News Source: Benclife