At Hot Chips 2023, Intel unveiled the first deep-dive details of its future 144-core Xeon
Sierra Forest and Granite Rapids processors, with the former comprised of Intel's new Sierra Glen E-cores while the latter employs the new Redwood Cove P-cores. The forthcoming next-gen Xeon chips launch in the first half of next year with a new tile-based architecture that features dual I/O chiplets on the 'Intel 7' process paired with varying configurations of compute cores etched on the 'Intel 3' process. This design allows Intel to craft multiple products based on different types of cores while maintaining the same underlying configuration.
Sierra Forest and Granite Rapids drop into the Birch Stream platform with socket, memory, firmware, and I/O compatibility offering a streamlined hardware validation process. They are also interoperable with the same software stacks, thus allowing customers to employ either chip based on their needs. Intel claims the next-gen Xeon Sierra Forest's E-Core-based design will provide up to 2.5x better rack density and 2.4x higher performance per watt than its fourth-gen Xeon chips, while the P-Core powered Granite Rapids will provide 2 to 3x the performance in mixed AI workloads, partially stemming from an 'up to' 2.8X improvement in memory bandwidth. Let's dive in.
