Intel has revised its Xeon Scalable family naming to a simpler "Xeon 6" branding for its next-gen Sierra Forest & Granite Rapids CPUs.
Intel's Simpler "Xeon 6" Branding Makes Sense For Its Next-Gen Sierra Forest E-Core & Granite Rapids P-Core CPU Families
Currently, Intel uses the Xeon Scalable Family branding for its data center and enterprise chips. This branding was recently adopted by the 5th Gen Emerald Rapids CPUs but that is about to change as the blue team is moving to a simpler naming convention.
Intel Xeon processors offer performance-efficient solutions to run current GenAI solutions, including RAG, that produce business-specific results using proprietary data. Intel introduced the new brand for its next-generation processors for data centers, cloud and edge: Intel Xeon 6. Intel Xeon 6 processors with new Efficient-cores (E-cores) will deliver exceptional efficiency and launch this quarter, while Intel Xeon 6 with Performance-cores (P-cores) will offer increased AI performance and launch soon after the E-core processors.
The new naming scheme which starts with the 6th Gen Xeon processors will simply use the "Xeon 6" branding. The first two processor families that will make use of this branding are the E-Core-only Sierra Forest chips which are expected to feature up to 288 Sierra Glen cores and the P-Core-only Granite Rapids chips which are expected to feature up to 3 compute dies based on the Redwood Cove core architecture. Both of these chips were originally going to use the 6th Gen Xeon Scalable family naming convention.
- Intel Xeon 6 processors with E-cores (code-named Sierra Forest):
- 4x performance per watt improvement and 2.7x better rack density compared with 2nd Gen Intel Xeon processors.
- Customers can replace older systems at a ratio of nearly 3-to-1, drastically lowering energy consumption and helping meet sustainability goals.
- Intel Xeon 6 processors with P-cores (code-named Granite Rapids):
- Incorporate software support for the MXFP4 data format, which reduces next token latency by up to 6.5x versus 4th Gen Intel Xeon processors using FP16, with the ability to run 70 billion parameter Llama-2 models.
Intel shared some additional performance figures, showcasing up to 2.4x performance per watt improvement and 2.7x performance per rack improvement. The Sierra Forest chips are expected to ship in Q2 2024. The Intel Granite Rapids P-Core-only CPUs will follow those soon later in the year.
Intel Xeon CPU Families (Preliminary):
| Family Branding | 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 | TBD | Intel 18A | Intel 3 | Intel 3 | Intel 7 | Intel 7 | 10nm+ | 14nm++ | 14nm++ | 14nm+ |
| Platform Name | 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 | 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 | TBD | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| Socket | 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 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 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 | 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 | Up To 16-Channel DDR5? | TBD | 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? | TBD | 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 350W | Up To 350W | Up To 350W | 105-270W | 150W-250W | 165W-205W | 140W-205W |
| 3D Xpoint Optane DIMM | TBD | TBD | Donahue Pass | TBD | Crow Pass | Crow Pass | Barlow Pass | Barlow Pass | Apache Pass | N/A |
| Competition | AMD EPYC Venice | AMD EPYC Zen 5C | 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 | 2025-2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2018 | 2017 |
