Intel's 2nd Gen E-Core Only Xeon CPUs, codenamed Clearwater Forest, are expected to feature up to 288 cores with updated architecture.
Intel 2nd Gen E-Core Only Xeon "Clearwater Forest" CPUs Pack Up To 288 Cores With Improved Architecture
The latest information comes from Bionic_Squash who keeps the tab on the latest developments on Intel's upcoming chips. According to the newest post, it looks like we are getting an early taste of what to expect from Intel's 2nd Gen Xeon family based on the E-Core CPU architecture. The first E-Core-only family, codenamed Sierra Forest, is yet to launch with a planned release for mid-2024 so based on how early this information is, things could change as we get closer to the 2025 launch of Clearwater Forest.
Core count comparison:
SRF-SP < CWF-SP
SRF-AP = CWF-AP— Bionic_Squash (@SquashBionic) December 1, 2023
With that said, it looks like Intel's Clearwater Forest will utilize an updated version of the Skymont E-Core architecture. This would be the fifth Gen E-Core architecture with Gracemonth being the first which made its debut on Alder Lake and was later reused in Raptor Lake CPUs, Crestmont which is going to debut in the upcoming Meteor Lake CPUs, and Sierra Glen which will debut with Sierra Forest chips.
As for Sierra Glen (for Sierra Forest), the E-Core architecture feels a lot similar to Crestmont with slight modifications which itself is very similar to Gracemont with some changes here and there as explained in this article. In Clearwater Forest, we will see an optimized version of Skymont cores from the looks of it. This is the same E-Core CPU architecture that will be utilized by Lunar Lake and Panther Lake by 2025.
The cores in SRF are slightly modified version of Crestmont
— Bionic_Squash (@SquashBionic) December 1, 2023
IPC uplift should be pretty decent, there's also pretty big L3 cache increase on CWF
— Bionic_Squash (@SquashBionic) December 1, 2023
The Clearwater Forest Xeon CPUs utilizing the Skymont architecture are said to offer up to 288 cores which is the exact same (Max) core count as the Sierra Forest chips. The difference is that the Clearwater Forest-SP chips will offer more cores than Sierra Forest-SP (144 cores) while the Clearwater Forest-AP chips will peak out at the same 288 core count as Sierra Forest-AP. The IPC is also said to receive a decent uplift and one major improvement for Clearwater Forest is going to be much bigger L3 caches similar to what we've seen on the 5th Gen Emerald Rapids P-Core family.
The Intel Clearwater Forest Xeon CPUs featuring the new and updated E-Core architecture will debut in 2025 and utilize the 18A process node.
Intel Xeon CPU Families (Preliminary):
| Family Branding | Coral Rapids | Diamond Rapids | Clearwater Forest | Granite Rapids | Sierra Forest | Emerald Rapids | Sapphire Rapids | Ice Lake-SP | Cooper Lake-SP | Cascade Lake-SP/AP | Skylake-SP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Process Node | Intel 14A? | Intel 18A-P | Intel 18A | Intel 3 | Intel 3 | Intel 7 | Intel 7 | 10nm+ | 14nm++ | 14nm++ | 14nm+ |
| Platform Name | TBD | Intel Oak Stream | Intel Birch Stream | Intel Birch Stream | Intel Mountain Stream Intel Birch Stream | Intel Eagle Stream | Intel Eagle Stream | Intel Whitley | Intel Cedar Island | Intel Purley | Intel Purley |
| Core Architecture | TBD | Panther Cove-X | Darkmont | Redwood Cove | Sierra Glen | Raptor Cove | Golden Cove | Sunny Cove | Cascade Lake | Cascade Lake | Skylake |
| MCP (Multi-Chip Package) SKUs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Socket | TBD | LGA XXXX / 9324 | LGA 4710 / 7529 | LGA 4710 / 7529 | LGA 4710 / 7529 | LGA 4677 | LGA 4677 | LGA 4189 | LGA 4189 | LGA 3647 | LGA 3647 |
| Max Core Count | TBD | Up To 192 P-Cores | Up To 288 | Up To 128 | Up To 288 | Up To 64? | Up To 56 | Up To 40 | Up To 28 | Up To 28 | Up To 28 |
| Max Thread Count | TBD | Up To 192 | Up To 288 | Up To 256 | Up To 288 | Up To 128 | Up To 112 | Up To 80 | Up To 56 | Up To 56 | Up To 56 |
| Max L3 Cache | TBD | TBD | TBD | 480 MB L3 | 108 MB L3 | 320 MB L3 | 105 MB L3 | 60 MB L3 | 38.5 MB L3 | 38.5 MB L3 | 38.5 MB L3 |
| Memory Support | TBD | Up To 16-Channel DDR5-9000+ | Up To 12-Channel DDR5-8000 | Up To 12-Channel DDR5-6400 MCR-8800 | Up To 12-Channel DDR5-6400 | Up To 8-Channel DDR5-5600 | Up To 8-Channel DDR5-4800 | Up To 8-Channel DDR4-3200 | Up To 6-Channel DDR4-3200 | DDR4-2933 6-Channel | DDR4-2666 6-Channel |
| PCIe Gen Support | PCIe 6.0 | PCIe 6.0 | PCIe 5.0 (96 Lanes) | PCIe 5.0 (136 Lanes) | PCIe 5.0 (88Lanes) | PCIe 5.0 (80 Lanes) | PCIe 5.0 (80 lanes) | PCIe 4.0 (64 Lanes) | PCIe 3.0 (48 Lanes) | PCIe 3.0 (48 Lanes) | PCIe 3.0 (48 Lanes) |
| TDP Range (PL1) | TBD | TBD | Up To 500W | Up To 500W | Up To 350W | Up To 350W | Up To 350W | 105-270W | 150W-250W | 165W-205W | 140W-205W |
| 3D Xpoint Optane DIMM | TBD | TBD | N/A | Donahue Pass | N/A | Crow Pass | Crow Pass | Barlow Pass | Barlow Pass | Apache Pass | N/A |
| Competition | TBD | AMD EPYC Venice | AMD EPYC Turin | AMD EPYC Turin | AMD EPYC Bergamo | AMD EPYC Genoa ~5nm | AMD EPYC Genoa ~5nm | AMD EPYC Milan 7nm+ | AMD EPYC Rome 7nm | AMD EPYC Rome 7nm | AMD EPYC Naples 14nm |
| Launch | 2028-2029 | 2027 | 2026 | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2018 | 2017 |
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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