New Intel Xeon 6 processors get up to 288 E-cores or 128 P-cores
Intel announces its new generation of Xeon processors for servers during Computex. The Xeon 6 CPUs will be available in models with only P-cores (Granite Rapids) or only E-cores (Sierra Forest). The maximum number of cores is 288 E or 128 P cores.
To form the complete line-up, Intel uses a total of six different packages. In all cases it concerns a combination of chiplets: two I/O dies built on Intel 7 and a varying number of compute dies made on the latest Intel 3 process. We haven't seen Intel 3 in consumer CPUs yet; Lunar Lake uses TSMC's N3 and the current generations for laptops and desktops also use Intel 4 or 7.
The variants with a maximum of 144 E-cores or a maximum of 86 P-cores are part of the Xeon 6700 series, of which the E-core versions are available immediately. In the Xeon 6900 series, the CPUs have up to 288 E-cores or 128 P-cores. That entire series and all models with P-cores will only be available in the third quarter of this year. The model with 128 P-cores contains no fewer than three compute tiles, connected to each other and the I/O tiles via Intel's EMIB technology.
Both the P and E core processors use the LGA7529 socket, of which at least two and when using some CPUs even four can be combined on one motherboard. The Xeon 6700 series has a maximum TDP of 350W, eight-channel DDR5-6400 memory and up to 88 PCIe 5.0 lanes, which can also be used for the server standard CXL 2.0. With special MCR dimms, memory speeds of up to 8800MT/s are even possible. With the Xeon 6900 series, the TDP increases to 500W, the memory controller can control twelve channels and there are 96 PCIe 5.0 or CXL 2.0 lanes.
It is striking that although Intel applies a new production process, it still uses the 'old' cores from Meteor Lake: Redwood Cove as the P-core and Crestmont as the E-core. The processor therefore lacks the latest IPC improvements, but the Xeons with P-cores can still use hyperthreading.
According to Intel, customers can replace three servers with one server thanks to the increased number of cores if they choose a model with E-cores. In specific scenarios, performance gains can reach more than 300 percent compared to the previous generation of Xeons: Emerald Rapids. Intel has already released a full specification list of the CPUs with E-cores that will be available immediately, which you can find below.