A couple of rumors regarding Intel's Ice Lake-SP Xeon server CPUs have surfaced over the web, mostly from known leaker, Momomo_US. The information consists of specifications, configs & power ratings of several SKUs that will be part of the 3rd Gen Xeon Scalable processor family.
Intel 3rd Gen Ice Lake-SP Xeon CPU Rumors Point Out Up To 40 Cores, 270W TDPs & Brand New Core Architecture
Starting off with the details, Intel's 3rd Gen Ice Lake-SP Xeon CPUs will be based on the 10nm+ process node and utilize the Sunny Cove core architecture. The Intel Sunny Cove x86 architecture has been around since 2019 and was first featured on Intel's 10th Gen Ice Lake processors for the notebook segment. Intel has since moved over to Tiger Lake which is based on the Willow Cove x86 architecture and makes use of the 10nm SuperFin process node.
Some of the major upgrades that Intel's 10nm+ for Ice Lake-SP Xeon CPU will deliver include:
- 2.7x density scaling vs 14nm
- Self-aligned Quad-Patterning
- Contact Over Active Gate
- Cobalt Interconnect (M0, M1)
- 1st Gen Foveros 3D Stacking
- 2nd Gen EMIB
update
XCC : 16/18/28/32/36/38/40C
HCC : 8/12/16/18/20/24/26/28C
TDP : 105/135/150/165/185/205/220/235/250/270W
と書いてある＿φ(￣ー￣ )— 188号 (@momomo_us) February 9, 2021
According to the rumor, Intel's Ice Lake-SP will ship in two die configurations, XCC (Extreme Core Count) and HCC (High Core Count). The XCC SKUs will feature 16, 18, 28, 32, 36, 38, and up to 40 cores. The HCC SKUs will feature 8, 12, 16, 18, 20, 24, 26, and up to 28 cores. The TDPs will range from 105, 135, 150, 165, 185, 205, 220, 235, 250, and all the way up to 270W for the flagship SKU. The XCC variants with 32, 36, 38, and 40 cores will be configurated at around 205-270W TDPs. As for clock speeds, one 40 core SKU is mentioned to feature a base clock of 2.30 GHz however the boost clock is unknown.
There was a recent entry for a 38 core and 76 thread Intel Ice Lake-SP CPU known as the Xeon Platinum, 8386Q within the Geekbench database which was running in a dual-socket configuration. This means that you are looking at 76 cores and 152 threads. The CPU features 57 MB of L3 cache, 23.75 MB of L2 cache, and a maximum of 64 PCIe Gen 4 lanes. There was a total of 256 MB of DDR4 EEC memory attached to the system.
Looking at the performance, we see a score of 801 points in single-core and 17529 points in the multi-core tests. These results are nothing spectacular and while we cannot provide you with a comparison against EPYC 7002 or 2nd Gen Xeon processors due to inconsistent operating systems and benchmark versions, we can tell that the Intel Ice Lake-SP chip in its current state is just on par with AMD's Rome lineup. And with Milan launching soon, Intel's hopes for Ice Lake-SP succeeding in the server segment look really grim.
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 |
News Source: Leakbench
