Wednesday, August 28th 2024
Intel Launches Xeon W-3500 and W-2500 Series Workstation Processors
Intel today launched its Xeon W-3500 series and Xeon W-2500 series workstation processors. These chips are based on the "Sapphire Rapids" microarchitecture featuring the enterprise version of "Golden Cove" P-cores. These are a refresh over the Xeon W-3400 series and W-2400 series, as they feature higher CPU core counts, L3 cache, and clock speeds, at given price-points. Intel has also slightly de-cluttered its lineup with this series. The key difference between the W-3500 series and the W-2500 series, is that the former comes with 8-channel DDR5 memory interface and 112 PCI-Express Gen 5 lanes; while the latter offers a 4-channel DDR5 memory interface, along with 64 PCI-Express Gen 5 lanes. The W-2500 series also comes with lower CPU core counts compared to the W-3500, which is somewhat made up for with higher CPU clock speeds. Perhaps the highlight of this refresh is that now Intel sells CPU core counts of up to 60-core/120-thread in the workstation segment. The W-3400 series had topped off at 36-core/72-thread.
The series is led by the Xeon W9-3595X. This beast maxes out the "Sapphire Rapids" chip, with a 60-core/120-thread configuration, with each of the 60 cores featuring 2 MB of dedicated L2 cache, and sharing 112.5 MB of L3 cache. The chip comes with a base frequency of 2.00 GHz, and a maximum boost frequency of 4.80 GHz. The next highest SKU sees a rather steep drop in core-counts, with the Xeon W9-3575X coming in with a 44-core/88-thread configuration, along with 97.5 MB of shared L3 cache, besides the 2 MB of dedicated L2 cache per core. This chip ticks at 2.20 GHz base, along with 4.80 GHz maximum boost. There's yet another steep drop in core-counts with the Xeon W7-3545, featuring a 24-core/48-thread configuration, 67.5 MB of shared L3 cache, 2.70 GHz base frequency, and 4.80 GHz maximum boost.
The Xeon W-3500 series continues on with a few low core-count SKUs. The Xeon W5-3535X is a 20-core/40-thread with 52.5 MB of shared L3 cache, 2.90 GHz of base frequency, and 4.80 GHz maximum boost; while the Xeon W5-3525 comes with a rather lean 16-core/32-thread configuration, with 45 MB of shared L3 cache, 3.20 GHz base frequency, and 4.80 GHz maximum boost. All Xeon W-3500 series SKUs come with 8-channel DDR5 memory interfaces, including with ECC support, 112 PCIe Gen 5 lanes, and Intel vPro Enterprise feature-set.
Switching gears to the Xeon W-2500 series, which trade in some I/O for lower CPU core counts that are clocked higher, and there are four SKUs. These chips target the portion of the workstation processor market that intersects with HEDTs (high-end desktops). These chips come with 4-channel DDR5 memory interfaces, and a 64-lane PCIe Gen 5 root-complex, yet you also get Intel vPro Enterprise.
The Xeon W-3500 subseries is led by the Xeon W7-2595X, with its 26-core/52-thread configuration that's a notch above the W7-3545 with its 24-core/48-thread. Each core comes with 2 MB of dedicated L2 cache, and share 48.75 MB of L3 cache. The chip comes with a 2.80 GHz base frequency that's 100 MHz less than the W7-3545, but an identical 4.80 GHz maximum boost frequency.
Next up, is the Xeon W7-2575X, with its 22-core/44-thread core-configuration, an impressive 3.00 GHz base frequency, 4.80 GHz maximum boost, and 45 MB of shared L3 cache. From here, we get down to some really low core-counts. The Xeon W5-2545 offers a 12-core/24-thread configuration, with 30 MB of L3 cache, a 3.50 GHz base frequency, and 4.70 GHz maximum boost, while the Xeon W3-2525 is the most affordable chip in the series, with its 8-core/16-thread configuration, with 22.5 MB of L3 cache, 3.50 GHz base frequency, and 4.50 GHz maximum boost.
All chips in the Xeon W-3500 and W-2400 series are based on the "Sapphire Rapids" microarchitecture, and build on the Intel 7 foundry node. All SKUs fit onto Socket LGA4677 motherboards, and top out at 1P (2P not supported on any SKU). Not all accelerators present on the server versions of "Sapphire Rapids" are available on these chips, for example, these lack Intel QuickAssist Technology (QAT), Intel Dynamic Load Balancer (DLB), and in-memory analytics acceleration, but feature Data-streaming Accelerator (DSA), and come with up to 2 AVX-512 FMA on-chip accelerators.
The series is led by the Xeon W9-3595X. This beast maxes out the "Sapphire Rapids" chip, with a 60-core/120-thread configuration, with each of the 60 cores featuring 2 MB of dedicated L2 cache, and sharing 112.5 MB of L3 cache. The chip comes with a base frequency of 2.00 GHz, and a maximum boost frequency of 4.80 GHz. The next highest SKU sees a rather steep drop in core-counts, with the Xeon W9-3575X coming in with a 44-core/88-thread configuration, along with 97.5 MB of shared L3 cache, besides the 2 MB of dedicated L2 cache per core. This chip ticks at 2.20 GHz base, along with 4.80 GHz maximum boost. There's yet another steep drop in core-counts with the Xeon W7-3545, featuring a 24-core/48-thread configuration, 67.5 MB of shared L3 cache, 2.70 GHz base frequency, and 4.80 GHz maximum boost.
Switching gears to the Xeon W-2500 series, which trade in some I/O for lower CPU core counts that are clocked higher, and there are four SKUs. These chips target the portion of the workstation processor market that intersects with HEDTs (high-end desktops). These chips come with 4-channel DDR5 memory interfaces, and a 64-lane PCIe Gen 5 root-complex, yet you also get Intel vPro Enterprise.
The Xeon W-3500 subseries is led by the Xeon W7-2595X, with its 26-core/52-thread configuration that's a notch above the W7-3545 with its 24-core/48-thread. Each core comes with 2 MB of dedicated L2 cache, and share 48.75 MB of L3 cache. The chip comes with a 2.80 GHz base frequency that's 100 MHz less than the W7-3545, but an identical 4.80 GHz maximum boost frequency.
Next up, is the Xeon W7-2575X, with its 22-core/44-thread core-configuration, an impressive 3.00 GHz base frequency, 4.80 GHz maximum boost, and 45 MB of shared L3 cache. From here, we get down to some really low core-counts. The Xeon W5-2545 offers a 12-core/24-thread configuration, with 30 MB of L3 cache, a 3.50 GHz base frequency, and 4.70 GHz maximum boost, while the Xeon W3-2525 is the most affordable chip in the series, with its 8-core/16-thread configuration, with 22.5 MB of L3 cache, 3.50 GHz base frequency, and 4.50 GHz maximum boost.
All chips in the Xeon W-3500 and W-2400 series are based on the "Sapphire Rapids" microarchitecture, and build on the Intel 7 foundry node. All SKUs fit onto Socket LGA4677 motherboards, and top out at 1P (2P not supported on any SKU). Not all accelerators present on the server versions of "Sapphire Rapids" are available on these chips, for example, these lack Intel QuickAssist Technology (QAT), Intel Dynamic Load Balancer (DLB), and in-memory analytics acceleration, but feature Data-streaming Accelerator (DSA), and come with up to 2 AVX-512 FMA on-chip accelerators.
1 Comment on Intel Launches Xeon W-3500 and W-2500 Series Workstation Processors
Sapphire Rapids already had two 512-bit FMA instructions per clock throughput, so its refresh (and Emerald Rapids) carry it over, but it's not an accelerator like QAT, DLB or DSA.