Intel’s plans for the workstation market with Sapphire Rapids-WS are taking shape as a well-known hardware leaker has released preliminary specs for the new CPU. Enthusiastic Citizen, a reputable hardware leaker (ECSM_Official) correct.
Intel’s New Workstation CPU Family
Intel’s next-generation Xeon W processor family for W790-based workstations will reportedly consist of two product families offering slightly different features. The Xeon W 3400 series CPUs are derived from the multi-chiplet Sapphire Rapids design and feature up to 56 cores, 8 DDR5 memory channels and 112 PCIe lanes. Additionally, the CPU cores used in these processors will be from Golden Cove with AVX-512 and AMX instructions enabled. In contrast, the Xeon W-2400 series processors use a single die design with up to 24 cores, 4 DDR5 memory channels and 64 PCIe lanes.
Intel’s Xeon W-2400 and W3400 series processors will come in LGA4677 packages and will use W790-based workstation motherboards. One of the first of his W790 mainboards was leaked last week. This suggests that some of Intel’s partners are preparing to ship these products sooner or later. Meanwhile, rumors suggest that Intel will only roll out his W790 platform next April, making it too early to ship a proper motherboard. Again, Intel has never officially confirmed a launch date for the W790 platform, only that it is designed for workstations.
Intel Xeon W-3400: Up to 56 overclockable cores
Intel’s Xeon W-3400 series lineup will include 9 models, 4 of which are said to be overclockable. Even his flagship Xeon W9-3495X is expected to come with unlocked multipliers to support overclocking.
A Linux boot log discovered earlier this year basically confirms the presence of Intel’s Xeon W-3400 series CPUs (with AVX-512 and AMX enabled). Yet, they also mention his Xeon W9-3495 (non-X) CPU running at 1.80 GHz base, which is not mentioned in his Enthusiastic Citizen. We don’t know if Intel has changed its plans regarding the Sapphire Rapids-WS lineup since his July but some details may be inaccurate as we are dealing with preliminary information.
Intel’s Xeon W-3400 series relies on Sapphire Rapids silicon and offers AVX-512 support and AMX instructions for artificial intelligence and machine learning applications. Advanced Matrix Extensions is a tiled matrix multiply accelerator, a grid of fused multiply-add units supporting BF16 and INT8 input types, can be programmed using only 12 instructions, up to 1024 per cycle per core TMUL BF16 or 2048 TMUL INT8 operations.
There are currently no workstation grade CPUs with up to 56 cores and AVX-512 instructions. So, this is a clear advantage of Intel’s X-3400 series processors over the existing AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5000WX series offerings. Meanwhile, AMD is working on the next-generation Zen 4 based Ryzen Threadripper Pro 7000WX family (codenamed Storm Peak) which will also support his AVX-512 but when will these CPUs be available? I don’t know.
What really sets Intel’s Xeon W-3400 apart from the competition is its AMX support. These instructions make it very competitive for AI/ML and other types of matrix multiplication workloads. One might argue that workstations rarely run such applications, but someone should develop his AMX-enabled applications on something and try it out, and perhaps he I would opt for a Xeon W-3400 based machine. Additionally, once a workstation program learns how to properly use his AMX, Sapphire Rapids-WS based devices will have an edge over their competitors for some time.
Intel Xeon W-2400: Up to 24 overclockable cores
Intel’s Xeon W-2400 series family will reportedly consist of 8 SKUs, 4 of which will be overclockable. We can’t say for sure, but we believe the W2000 series will use Intel’s 34-core Raptor Lake-S silicon. On the other hand, even the best Xeon W7-2495X has 24 cores with hyperthreading. Perhaps Intel should disclose his Xeon W-2400 series models with additional high core counts to partners. Alternatively, the company may have decided to sacrifice 8 cores for the extra yield, clocks, or proper clocks of the AVX-512.
Three interesting SKUs that Intel allegedly has for its Xeon W-2400 lineup are the 8-core W5-2435 and the 6-core W3-2425 and W3-2423 processors. Assuming these chips can be overclocked by increasing his BCLK frequency (not sure if this will work on his workstation grade W790 platform, who knows), the world’s top pro It is sure to catch the attention of overclockers. On the other hand, one can only wonder if these parts will be commercially successful or suffer the same fate as Intel’s Kaby Lake-X processors for his enthusiast X299 platform.
The Xeon W4-242 is worth noting.3 According to Enthusiastic Citizen, the processor does not support hyperthreading. This is a big surprise for 2023 workstation processors. Interestingly, there is also the Xeon W5-343.3 and W5-3423 3400 series family of processors, but not sure if they support simultaneous multithreading.
A worthy competitor?perhaps
If the information is correct, Intel’s Xeon W-3000 and W-2000 series processors could be in favor of AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper Pro. Still, enthusiastic citizens tend to be very accurate, which is why they have a good reputation, but we’re still dealing with unofficial information, so take that into account.
