Intel Granite Rapids-D Variant SKUs Confirmed

A document obtained from Computer Base has confirmed the existence of Xeon-D processors using the Granite Rapids architecture. The Granite Rapids lineup of CPUs is bound to arrive sometime in 2024. These CPUs will be Intel’s largest leap in the last decade. More on that in a bit.

Granite Rapids-D Processors Confirmed

The Xeon-D class of CPUs aimed at microservers was last seen with Ice Lake. These CPUs are intended to offer better performance than the Xeon E3 CPUs, while not sipping as much power as the E5 variants. Xeon-D was built on the same microarchitecture as the leading-class server SKUs.

This allowed Intel to incorporate features such as ECC memory, high core counts, more PCIe lanes and other goods of workstation/server CPUs.

The Xeon-D CPUs were seen across various generations including Broadwell, Skylake, and even Ice Lake. However, since then, they were discontinued due to various reasons. This document shared by Computer Base seemingly confirms the existence of Xeon-D once more, based on the Granite Rapids architecture.

As per the document, Granite Rapids-D supports crucial Instruction Sets such as AVX2, BMI, FMA, and various other sets derived from AVX512. Additionally, don’t expect to see extremely high-core counts on these models as they are designed for less resource-intensive applications.

If we are to talk about Granite Rapids itself, Granite Rapids is built on Intel’s bleeding-edge 3nm process. These CPUs feature the Redwood Cove architecture (P-Cores) which should offer double-digit IPC gains. Furthermore, GNR-SP is expected to have upwards of 88 cores (44 per 2 tiles). Whereas, GNR-AP will lift this count to 132 cores (44 per 3 tiles).

Granite Rapids should allow Intel to leapfrog AMD, at least in the core count department. Zen5-based Turin goes up to 128 Zen5 cores, which is less than what Granite Rapids intends to offer. Are you excited about Granite Rapids? Tell us in the comments below.

Specifications

Source: Computer Base