It turns out that the 60-core Xeon W9-3595X leak from last week is part of a 14-SKU mid-lifecycle refresh of the Xeon W LGA4677 series targeting the workstation and HEDT markets. The underlying microarchitecture and silicon at the heart of these is "Sapphire Rapids Refresh," it's essentially the same as "Sapphire Rapids," but with CPU core-count increases across the SKUs. If you recall, the "Sapphire Rapids" MCM has a maximum core-count of 60-core/120-thread which is maxed out in Xeon Scalable server processors, but only hit up to 56-core/112-thread with the original W3400 and W2400 series HEDT/workstation chips. This unused 4-core headroom, combined with increases in clock speeds, is how Intel plans to create these 14 SKUs across the new W3500 and W2500 product lines.

As with the original W3400 and W2400 series; what set the W3500 series chips apart from the W2500 series, is the I/O. The W3500 series gets 8-channel DDR5 memory and 128 PCIe Gen 5 lanes, while the W2500 series chips get 4-channel DDR5 memory and 64 PCIe Gen 5 lanes. As we mentioned, this refresh is all about increasing the CPU core counts at existing price points. The top W9-3595X is a 60-core/120-thread chip, compared to the 56-core/112-thread W9-3495X it's replacing. The new W9-3575X gets a massive 8-core uplift, and is now a 44-core/88-thread processor, compared to the 36-core/72-thread W9-3475X. The W7-3565X is 32-core/64-thread, compared to the 28-core/56-thread W7-3465X.

Bitspower brought a large bag of new toys at the 2024 International CES. The first thing that caught our attention was a familiar-looking case with infinity reflection lighting. On a closer look, it turned out to be a Lian Li PC-O11D Evo XL that's been given a neat aesthetic uplift thanks to the new Enigma Light Panel kit by Bitspower. You arrange these along the edges of your side- and front panels, and the provide an impressive, infinity reflection effect. It works with standard 3-pin ARGB, so you can mix it with your regular lighting setup. Next up, are a slew of CR Slim series reservoirs that are designed in the distribution plate format, which they line up with one of your glass panels, providing a better view of your coolant. There are various sizes, ranging from 120 mm x 120 mm, going all the way up to 803 mm. x 140 mm, with fitting ports at strategic locations to align with your CPU and VGA blocks, and radiators. The reservoirs come with preparation for a standard D5 pump, and feature a side cover that has the ARGB LED lighting, the diodes aren't studded into the acrylic as such. Bitspower released a mounting brackets of various sizes to help you correctly mount the reservoirs and accessories in place.

The HEDT/workstation segment is heating up, with Intel preparing to launch a new line of low(er) core-count processor models with I/O features competitive to those of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7000 series for the AMD TRX50 platform. The new W-2500 series is designed for the same Intel W790 chipset Socket LGA4677 motherboards as the W-2400 series, but with increased CPU core-counts across the board. The top W-2500 series processor model comes with a 26-core/52-thread core-configuration, 2 MB of dedicated L2 cache per core, and 48.75 MB of shared L3 cache.

Where the Intel Xeon W-2500 series aces over the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7000 (TRX50), is the platform I/O. While both processors offer a 4-channel DDR5 interface, the Intel chip offers a 64-lane PCI-Express Gen 5 root complex, in comparison to the 48-lane PCIe Gen 5 root complex from the processor. The TRX50 platform itself adds up to 88 PCIe lanes, but only 48 of these are Gen 5. The W-2500 series includes seven processor models, with the lowest model giving you 8-core/16-thread, and the highest one being 26-core/52-thread. Here the Threadripper 7000 TRX50 has a distinct advantage, as it offers core counts of up to 64-core/128-thread.

ARCTIC, a leading manufacturer of low-noise PC coolers and components, releases a multi-compatible server cooler for 4U server racks. The Freezer 4U-M is the successor of the established Freezer 4U SP3. It is a versatile server cooler with a push-pull fan setup, a large contact area and an improved mounting system. Thanks to its compatibility with Intel's LGA4189 and LGA4677 as well as AMD's SP6, sTR5, SP3, TR4, sTRX4 and sWRX8 sockets, it is suitable for a wide range of Intel and AMD server processors.

Even with its particularly high cooling performance, it consumes only 2.88 watts, underlining its remarkable energy efficiency even when cooling powerful processors with up to 64 cores and a TDP of up to 350 watts. With a generous 53 mm of RAM clearance, the Freezer 4U-M allows the use of memory modules with larger heatsinks. This clearance allows efficient air circulation and ensures compatibility with a wide range of RAM variants.

Liquid cooling major Bitspower, which sells both DIY and AIO liquid cooling solutions under its own brand, as well as serves as OEM for other brands, came out with a comprehensive lineup of new products at the 2023 Computex. We begin our stroll of their booth with the Summit lineup of CPU water-blocks and CPU area monoblocks. The company showed us their Summit series LGA4677 block for Intel Xeon W workstations, made of nickel-plated copper and POM acetal tops. These completely dwarf the company's Summit series blocks for AMD sWRX8/sTRX4 Threadripper sockets. The company also showed off a series of CPU area monoblocks. These are motherboard model-specific rather than socket-specific, because they have to be tailored not just for the socket, but also the components in its vicinity, such as CPU VRM.

The innovative new Summit M Silent is designed to reduce noise caused due to coolant flow (by bubbles and vortexes). This is essentially a nickel-plated copper plate that guides coolant through the micro-fin lattice. While the block material is copper with acrylic top, these blocks have additional brushed aluminium top-plates. The Summit M Pure lacks this feature, and is a typical copper+acetal block. Both the Summit M Pure and Summit M Silent come in Socket LGA1700 and Socket AM5 variants. The AMD variants have design-level optimization for the MCM layout of "Raphael," "Vermeer," and "Matisse." Bitspower also showed us a plethora of new fittings, including 45° extenders, 90° extenders, rotary fittings, and static ones. These come in four color options—black, brass, white, and chrome. All four are made of brass. The company also showed us their CR series flat-type and cuboidal reservoirs with provision for integrated pumps.

Finding itself embattled with AMD's EPYC "Genoa" processors, Intel is giving its 4th Gen Xeon Scalable "Sapphire Rapids" processor a rather quick succession in the form of the Xeon Scalable "Emerald Rapids," bound for Q4-2023 (about 8-10 months in). The new processor shares the same LGA4677 platform and infrastructure, and much of the same I/O, but brings about two key design changes that should help Intel shore up per-core performance, making it competitive to EPYC "Zen 4" processors with higher core-counts. SemiAnalysis compiled a nice overview of the changes, the two broadest points of it being—1. Intel is peddling back on the chiplet approach to high core-count CPUs, and 2., that it wants to give the memory sub-system and inter-core performance a massive performance boost using larger on-die caches.

The "Emerald Rapids" processor has just two large dies in its extreme core-count (XCC) avatar, compared to "Sapphire Rapids," which can have up to four of these. There are just three EMIB dies interconnecting these two, compared to "Sapphire Rapids," which needs as many as 10 of these to ensure direct paths among the four dies. The CPU core count itself doesn't see a notable increase. Each of the two dies on "Emerald Rapids" physically features 33 CPU cores, so a total of 66 are physically present, although one core per die is left unused for harvesting, the SemiAnalysis article notes. So the maximum core-count possible commercially is 32 cores per die, or 64 cores per socket. "Emerald Rapids" continues to be based on the Intel 7 process (10 nm Enhanced SuperFin), probably with a few architectural improvements for higher clock-speeds.

Noctua has showcased its NH-U14S DX-4677 air cooler in action, cooling down Intel's 56-core Xeon W9-3495X at full load and drawing 700 W of power. While all-in-one (AiO) liquid coolers are popular these days, Noctua aim to show that air coolers are more than capable on handling even the most high-end CPUs, even at continuous load and without throttling.

While the video does not show the full details of the CPU settings, it is still an impressive feat, especially considering the high power draw, which suggest that the CPU was pushed way beyond its default settings for demonstration. The setup includes the aforementioned Intel's 56-core Xeon W9-3495X CPU, running on ASUS Pro WS W790E-SAGE SE motherboard with SK Hynix DDR5 EC8 RDIMM, and powered by Seasonic's PX-1600 PSU.

ASUS today announced that ASUS W790 workstation motherboards support ECC R-DIMM DDR5 RAM at up to 6800 MHz, unleashing class-leading overclocking capability to unlock even more performance potential. ASUS W790 workstation motherboards feature the memory capability of up to 2 TB RDIMM DDR5 memory to power the next generation of compute-intensive professional workloads. In addition, ASUS have been working with market-leading memory partners including G.SKILL, Kingston, and V-Color to establish multiple memory validations and to widely support 8-channel and quad-channel memory architectures. The Pro WS W790E-SAGE SE now supports up to 128 GB (8x16 GB) at 6800 MT/s, and the Pro WS W790-ACE supports up to 64 GB (4x16 GB) of DDR5 RAM at 6800 MT/s. This painstakingly cultivated collection of device validations helps ensure that an ASUS W790 workstation build supports a wide variety of scenarios.

Choosing the right CPU cooler for a workstation build can also be a challenge, because CPU sockets and form factors are different from those used in desktops. Therefore, ASUS has partnered with cooling experts including Enermax, EK and Noctua to offer air and liquid coolers for the LGA4677 socket used by the latest Intel Xeon workstation processors. These solutions are designed to offer optimal heat transfer and heat dissipation capacity through the cooler base and then to coolant tubes, heat pipes and radiator fins.

ENERMAX, an industry-leading force dedicated to design extreme performance computer power supplies and cooling solutions, announces that its overclocking-graded AIO CPU cooler, LIQTECH TR4 II series, is now ready for Intel LGA4677 Xeon platform! The CPU mounting kits inside of the new version of LIQTECH TR4 II are designed for Intel Sapphire Rapid-based W-3400 and W-2400 series Xeon processors with socket LGA4677, and AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO processors with socket sWRX8 / sTRX4/ TR4, as well as AMD socket SP3 for AMD EPYC processors.

Awarded as the BEST AIO CPU Cooler in European Hardware Awards, the LIQTECH TR4 II series is the world's first AIO CPU cooler tailored to provide 100% full coverage of the integrated heatspreader (IHS) of both AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO and upcoming Intel Xeon Sapphire Rapids processors with unparalleled cooling results. The unbeatable cooling capacity (500 W TDP) makes it the best cooling solution for both Intel Xeon W-3400 and W-2400 series processor (LGA4677) and AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO processors designed for workstations and high-end desktops (HEDTs).

The new NH-U14S DX-4677, NH-U12S DX-4677, NH-U9 DX-4677 and NH-D9 DX-4677 4U are dedicated, customised solutions for Intel's professional LGA4677 platform (Sapphire Rapids), which makes them an ideal fit for both 4th generation Xeon Scalable CPUs (Platinum, Gold, Silver or Bronze) and W-3400 or W-2400 series Xeon processors for workstations such as the w9-3495X, w7-3465X or w7-2495X. Whereas the large 14 cm NH-U14S DX-4677 and 12 cm NH-U12S DX-4677 are an excellent choice for tower-style cases and thus lend themselves to use in high-performance quiet workstations, the smaller NH-D9 DX-4677 4U and NH-U9 DX-4677 fit 4U cases, which makes them perfect for more compact workstations as well as 4U class rack-mount servers that need to run as quietly as possible.

While the NH-U9's direction of airflow is perpendicular to the long axis of the LGA4677 socket, the NH-D9's direction of airflow is parallel to the long axis of the LGA4677 socket. Depending on the orientation of the socket(s) on the motherboard, choosing either the NH-U9 or de NH-D9 enables system builders to align the airflow of the cooler(s) with the exhaust fans of the chassis and thereby ensure optimal system performance. Thanks to their compact footprint, both models are ideal for building dual socket setups with motherboards where larger coolers may interfere with each other.

Yes, you read that correctly, ASUS didn't launch just one, but two W790 based LGA-4677 motherboards today, namely the Pro WS W790-Sage SE and the Pro WS W790-Ace. The main difference here is that the Sage supports up to seven PCIe 5.0 x16 slots—one is a x8 slot electrically—and is designed for the Xeon W-3400 series, whereas the Ace supports five PCIe 5.0 x16 slots and is in turn designed for the Xeon W-2400 series. One downside of these boards is that they might not fit in a standard ATX case, as the Sage follows the SSI-EEB form factor and the Ace the SSI-CEB form factor, both of which are a fair bit wider than an ATX motherboard and with different mounting holes.

The Pro WS W790-ACE also sports eight DDR5 DIMM slots that operate in quad-channel and supports up to 2 TB of RAM if ECC R-DIMMs are used. Furthermore, ASUS has kitted out the Ace with a pair of PCIe 4.0 M.2 slots, one 2280 and one 22110 slot, four SATA ports, three slim SAS ports, a Marvell 10 Gbps and an Intel 2.5 Gbps Ethernet interface, a single USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 20 Gbps USB Type-C port around the back and an internal header for a second, case mounted port. Finally the board has four USB 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbps Type-A ports around the back and a header for a further two., as well as eight USB 2.0 ports around the back and audio courtesy of a Realtek S1220A based solution with optical S/PDIF out.

Leading global motherboard manufacturer, ASRock, proudly announces its new ASRock W790 WS motherboard for workstations for Intel Xeon W-3400/W-2400 series processors (LGA4677). The ASRock W790 WS features up to 2 TB DDR5 ECC RDIMM support, PCI-Express 5.0 expansion slots, USB4/Thunderbolt 4 and Dual 10 Gbps Ethernet. A flagship-class 14-layer PCB and 20+2 phase CPU VRM ensures ultimate performance and superb reliability, even when subjected to the most demanding sustained workloads.

Supports New 4th Generation Xeon Processor
The W790 WS chipset is optimized for new Intel Xeon W-2400 series (LGA4677) processors and is compatible with W-3400 series processors with up to 56 cores also. The ASRock W790 WS provides a quad-channel DDR5 design with 2DPC over 8 DIMM slots, maximizing memory performance, potential memory pool capacity and supports ECC RDIMMs to ensure data reliability.

Intel's server processor lineup led by the 4th Gen Xeon Scalable "Sapphire Rapids" processors face stiff competition from AMD 4th Gen EPYC "Genoa" processors that offer significantly higher multi-threaded performance per Watt on account of a higher CPU core-count. The gap is only set to widen, as AMD prepares to launch the "Bergamo" processor for cloud data-centers, with core-counts of up to 128-core/256-thread per socket. A technologically-embattled Intel is preparing quick counters as many as three new server microarchitecture launches over the next 23 months, according to Intel, in its Q4-2022 Financial Results presentation.

The 4th Gen Xeon Scalable "Sapphire Rapids," with a core-count of up to 60-core/120-thread, and various application-specific accelerators, witnessed a quiet launch earlier this month, and is shipping to Intel customers. The company says that it will be joined by the Xeon Scalable "Emerald Rapids" architecture in the second half of 2023; followed by "Granite Rapids" and "Sierra Forest" in 2024. Built on the same LGA4677 package as "Sapphire Rapids," the new "Emerald Rapids" MCM packs up to 64 "Raptor Cove" CPU cores, which support higher clock-speeds, higher memory speeds, and introduce the new Intel Trust Domain Extensions (TDX) instruction-set. The processor retains the 8-channel DDR5 memory interface, but with higher native memory speeds. The chip's main serial interface is a PCI-Express Gen 5 root-complex with 80 lanes. The processor will be built on the last foundry-level refinement of the Intel 7 node (10 nm Enhanced SuperFin); many of these refinements were introduced with the company's 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" client processors.

Today, thanks to the ServeTheHome forum member "111alan", we have the first pictures of the alleged Intel Sapphire Rapids Xeon processor. Pictured is what appears to be a dual-die design similar to Cascade Lake-SP design with 56 cores and 112 threads that uses two dies. The Sapphire Rapids is a 10 nm SuperFin design that allegedly comes even in the dual-die configuration. To host this processor, the motherboard needs an LGA4677 socket with 4677 pins present. The new LGA socket, along with the new 10 nm Sapphire Rapids Xeon processors are set for delivery in 2021 when Intel is expected to launch its new processors and their respective platforms.

The processor pictured is clearly a dual-die design, meaning that Intel used some of its Multi-Chip Package (MCM) technology that uses EMIB to interconnect the silicon using an active interposer. As a reminder, the new 10 nm Sapphire Rapids platform is supposed to bring many new features like a DDR5 memory controller paired with Intel's Data Streaming Accelerator (DSA); a brand new PCIe 5.0 standard protocol with a 32 GT/s data transfer rate, and a CXL 1.1 support for next-generation accelerators. The exact configuration of this processor is unknown, however, it is an engineering sample with a clock frequency of a modest 2.0 GHz.

Intel has finalized design of its next-generation Xeon Scalable enterprise CPU socket for its "Sapphire Rapids" processors. Called LGA4677, the socket succeeds LGA3647, and is bound for a 2021 market release. Intel will have transitioned to its advanced 7 nm EUV silicon fabrication node on the CPU front, and has adopted an "enterprise-first" strategy for the node. LGA4677 will be designed to handle the extremely high bandwidth of PCI-Express Gen 5, which doubles bandwidth over PCIe gen 4.0, and adds several enterprise-specific features Intel is rolling out in advance as part of its CXL interconnect. These details, along with a prototype LGA4189 socket, was revealed at an exhibit by TE Connectivity, a company that manufactures the socket. The additional pin-count could enable Intel to not just deploy PCI-Express Gen 5, but also expand I/O in other directions, such as more memory channels, dedicated Persistent Memory I/O, etc.