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Intel Unveils Xeon 6 Branding: New Naming Starts With Sierra Forest E-Core & Granite Rapids P-Core CPUs
Intel has revised the name of its Xeon Scalable family. Simple “Xeon 6” branding for its next-generation Sierra Forest and Granite Rapids CPUs.
Intel's simplified “Xeon 6” branding makes sense for its next-generation Sierra Forest E-Core and 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 this is about to change as the blue team moves towards a simpler naming convention.
Intel Xeon processors offer performance-efficient solutions for running existing GenAI solutions, including RAG, which use proprietary data to generate business-specific results. Intel introduced a new brand for its next-generation processors for data centers, cloud and edge: Intel Xeon 6. Intel Xeon 6 processors will deliver exceptional performance with new Efficient-cores (E-cores) and launch this quarter, while Intel Xeon 6 Performance Cores (P-cores) will deliver increased AI performance and E-cores. Core processors will launch soon after.
The new naming scheme that begins with 6th Gen Xeon processors will use only “Xeon 6” branding. The first two processor families to use this branding are expected to be E-Core-only Sierra Forest chips Feature up to 288 Sierra Glen Cores And P-Core-only Granite Rapids chips These are expected to feature 3 compute dice 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 (codenamed Sierra Forest):
- 4x performance per watt improvement and 2.7x better rack density compared to 2nd Gen Intel Xeon processors.
- Customers can replace older systems at a ratio of nearly 3-to-1, drastically reducing energy consumption and helping meet sustainability goals.
- Intel Xeon 6 processors with P-cores (codenamed Granite Rapids):
- Add software support for the MXFP4 data format, which reduces next-token latency by up to 6.5x compared to 4th Gen Intel Xeon processors using FP16 with the ability to run 70 billion parameter Llama-2 models.
Intel shared some additional performance figures, showing a 2.4x performance per watt improvement and a 2.7x performance per rack improvement. Sierra Forest chips are expected to ship in Q2 2024. Intel Granite Rapids P-Core-only CPUs will soon follow later in the year.
Intel Xeon CPU families (initial):
| Family branding | Diamond Rapids | Clear water forest | Granite Rapids | Sierra Forest | Emerald Rapids | Sapphire Rapids | Ice Lake-Sp | Cooper Lake-Sp | Lake-SP/AP Cascade | Skylake-SP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Process node | Intel 20A? | Intel 18 A | Intel 3 | Intel 3 | Intel 7 | Intel 7 | 10nm+ | 14nm++ | 14nm++ | 14nm+ |
| Platform name | Intel Mountain Stream Intel Birch Stream |
Intel Mountain Stream Intel Birch Stream |
Intel Mountain 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 |
| Basic architecture | Lion Cove? | Darkmont | Redwood Cove | The Sierra Glen | Raptor Cove | Golden Cove | Listen | Lake Lake | Lake Lake | Skylake |
| MCP (Multi-Chip Package) SKUs | Yes | TBD | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | no | no | Yes | no |
| The socket | LGA 4677/7529 | LGA 4677/7529 | LGA 4677/7529 | LGA 4677/7529 | LGA 4677 | LGA 4677 | LGA 4189 | LGA 4189 | LGA 3647 | LGA 3647 |
| Maximum cover count | Up to 144? | By 288 | Up to 136? | By 288 | Up to 64? | Up to 56 | Up to 40 | Until the 28th | Until the 28th | Until the 28th |
| Maximum thread count | Up to 288? | By 288 | Up to 272? | By 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 12-channel DDR6-7200? | TBD | Up to 12-channel DDR5-6400 | Up to 8-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 General Support | PCIe 6.0 (128 lanes)? | TBD | PCIe 5.0 (136 Lanes) | PCIe 5.0 (TBD Lanes) | 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) | Up to 500W? | 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 | Pass Donahue? | TBD | Donahue Pass | TBD | do pass | do pass | Barlow Pass | Barlow Pass | Apache Pass | N/A |
| Competition | AMD EPYC Venus | AMD EPYC Zen 5C | AMD EPYC Turin | AMD EPYC Bergamo | AMD EPYC Genova ~ 5nm | AMD EPYC Genova ~ 5nm | AMD EPYC gradient 7nm+ | AMD EPYC ROM 7nm | AMD EPYC ROM 7nm | AMD EPYC Naples 14nm |
| Launch. | 2025? | 2025 | 2024 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2018 | 2017 |
