Upon the request of HPE, the Linux-focused tool Turbostat can monitor CPUs with up to 8,192 cores, given that they manage to achieve this threshold at some point in time.
Linux Tool Turbostat "Ran Out Of Cores" As an HPE Engineer Tested Out a 1,152-Core System, Prompting The Update
Well, with Linux's open-source nature, you can do almost anything, and that is what makes the OS so exciting to use. According to Phoronix, Turbostat has seen a new update with the Linux 6.15 cycle, allowing users to monitor several thousand CPU cores. Interestingly, the update comes after an HPE engineer tested out a system with 1,152 cores, which is beyond the limit of Turbostat, which was capped at 1,024 cores, and in response, an update has now been pushed out to cater to the demand, but instead, the core cap is raised by almost eight times, making Turbostat pretty future-proof.
For those confused about what Turbostat does, it is a command-line utility that reports on multiple parameters, such as frequency, idle statistics, temperature, and power usage. It is a part of the Linux distribution and is preferred in professional workloads, but an average consumer could test it out by downloading the respective package. Interestingly, the 8,192 core limit isn't new to Linux since all other CPU maximum core limits within the Linux kernel are at this number, Turbostat certainly had to comply with the figure.
Now, the question is what kind of system the HPE engineer was running that gave it a total of 1,152 cores. It is assumed that the cluster might be running Intel's 288-core flagship Xeon 6900E processor, in a 4P configuration. Another possibility is that HPE might be testing out newer architectures, such as the Intel Diamond Rapids, but for now, these are mere assumptions.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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