What does Intel’s Emerald Rapids bring to the fight

Cascading schedules and features for one

Xeon Bronze logoSo what is Intel’s Emerald Rapids other than an update to the current Sapphire Rapids? Allow SemiAccurate to shed some light on this mild update to Intel’s server offerings.

A little recap to kick things off. There are two current Sapphire Rapids ‘dies’ although that term is a bit of a misnomer for the large XCC CPU. That device is four main chiplets/dies, two each of two mirrored layouts. All four have the same functionality, the mirroring is simply to make sure the I/O pads are in the right place. Other than cost and minor inventory headaches, this isn’t a big deal.

On the lower end we have a monolithic die for the MCC part, and this one is missing a few features. Most of the changes are in the accelerators, detailed a bit near the end here. About the only big thing that is lacking from the MCC die is the HBM controllers, if you want HBM you need the ‘big’ part. Fair enough, it isn’t all that likely anyone will want to pay the premium for HBM and only buy 32 cores or less.

That brings us to the core counts. XCC chiplets have 15 cores per die, an HBM controller, and at least one of each accelerator. The initial 56C max device was upped to the full 60C for PR reasons but we won’t rehash that happiness again. The MCC has 32C per die but lacks the HBM controller and roughly half the accelerators so it should be less area per core overall, plus there is no advanced packaging at this level.

So that is Sapphire Rapids in a nutshell, what does Emerald bring to the party? Not much really, if we have to describe it we would say that it is a Cascade of new features.

Note: The following is for professional and student level subscribers.

Disclosures: Charlie Demerjian and Stone Arch Networking Services, Inc. have no consulting relationships, investment relationships, or hold any investment positions with any of the companies mentioned in this report.

Note: The following is analysis for professional level subscribers only.

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Charlie Demerjian

Roving engine of chaos and snide remarks at SemiAccurate
Charlie Demerjian is the founder of Stone Arch Networking Services and SemiAccurate.com. SemiAccurate.com is a technology news site; addressing hardware design, software selection, customization, securing and maintenance, with over one million views per month. He is a technologist and analyst specializing in semiconductors, system and network architecture. As head writer of SemiAccurate.com, he regularly advises writers, analysts, and industry executives on technical matters and long lead industry trends. Charlie is also available through Guidepoint and Mosaic. FullyAccurate