Intel is preparing to launch its fifth generation of Xeon Scalable. The chips offer more performance with lower wattage.

Intel will soon unveil its latest generation of scalable Xeon chips: Emerald Rapids. Although the launch is still pending, some details have already been officially announced through a presentation by Intel for the European Southern Observatory. You can watch the respective lecture here.

For the fifth generation of Xeon Scalable, Intel will follow the same tactics as for the fourth. This way we get a variety of chips optimized for different workloads. In addition, Intel is resolutely withdrawing its AI card with integrated accelerator functions. Intel still seems to be struggling to make an interesting argument against AMD Epyc based on CPU performance alone, and is therefore focusing on such on-chip accelerators that give many workloads a significant boost.

64 cores

We’re already getting one TheShot, from which we conclude that Emerald Rapids is slightly smaller than its predecessor. Intel is also opting for two core modules, compared to four last year. The specifications are missing, but everything indicates that Intel is aiming for 33 cores per module, one of which is disabled. This means that the maximum number of cores of Xeon Scalable is 64: eight more than the fourth generation of Xeon Scalable, but still 22 fewer than the AMD Epyc 9654/P.

Intel claims that its new chips are twenty to 40 percent faster than the previous generation, depending on the load. AI-related workloads in particular will get a big boost, although the performance increase of a factor of 1.2 for web and media workloads isn’t bad either. We shouldn’t expect miracles since these chips come from the same production line as the fourth generation of Xeon Scalable: Intel 7. However, the manufacturer claims that the performance per watt is higher. Finally, the L3 cache is increased.

Wide product range

There have been many rumors about the exact lineup of the Xeon Emerald Rapids, but details about the exact chips are still unconfirmed. Count on a very extensive range of processors with different numbers of cores, clocked at different frequencies, with a 64-core chip being the highest quality component.