AMD's Zen 4 high-end desktop (HEDT) family could be closing in on a launch window—AsRock's European office has registered a number of motherboards with the EEC, and KOMACHI_ENSAKA spotted a model sporting a TRX50 chipset sitting in the middle of mainstream gaming Lightning and Riptide offerings. The "TRX50 WS" seems to be the first sighting of an AMD Threadripper 7000 "Storm Peak" series workstation board. TRX50 is presumably the logical successor to Team Red's existing TRX40 platform—the latter supports third generation (Zen 3) Ryzen Threadripper 5000 "Chagall" processors. AMD has not publicly published any details regarding next-gen Threadripper and Threadripper Pro product lineups, but several leaks have pointed to the new HEDT platform arriving within the second half of 2023.

A mid-August Geekbench database entry outed the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7995WX—this 96 core/192 thread CPU scored 2095 points in single-core tests, and 81408 multi-core points—these results have it positioned as one of the fastest processors submitted to Geekbench. The test system was running Geekbench v5.5 for Linux (Ubuntu 22.04 LTS). It is speculated that four (or more) models could be released with differing core counts: 16, 32, 64 and 96—please refer to the VideoCardz authored chart (below). Past rumors have SP5 and SP6 socket types linked to the "Storm Peak" family, with the introduction of DDR5 memory standard to Threadripper.

AMD appears set to enhance the core count for its renowned Threadripper series. After a prolonged wait, the high-end desktop (HEDT) platform boasting a significant CPU count returns with the Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7995WX, which features an impressive 96 cores and 192 threads. This marks the series' first core count upgrade since the Threadripper 3000 series. The 7995WX CPU was spotted in the HP Z6 G5 Workstation system, potentially one of the inaugural prebuilt systems from AMD's OEM partners. The Threadripper PRO series seems poised to dominate AMD's HEDT offerings, with no indications of non-PRO consumer models emerging for now.

The latest Geekbench listing unveiled the 7995WX CPU's 96-core configuration. Although the base frequency appears misrepresented, benchmark data hints at the 96-core CPU potentially reaching a boost clock of 5.14 GHz, a detail further confirmed by Geekbench's output. Another notable enhancement in the Threadripper series is introducing the DDR5 memory standard. While the benchmarking tool doesn't explicitly mention this, it does highlight a memory configuration of 503.27 GB (512 GB) in use. The CPU managed to score 2095 points for single-core score and 81408 points for multi-core score on Geekbench v5.5 for Linux (Ubuntu 22.04 LTS), making it one of the fastest CPUs in the database.

Intel released a product change notification (PCN) earlier this week, announcing the discontinuation of its "Cascade Lake-X" and "Cascade Lake-W" HEDT processors. This effectively marks the end for the LGA2066 HEDT platform, as well as the Xeon W-2200 series workstation processors. The final iteration of the "Skylake" CPU core, "Cascade Lake" introduced features such as AVX512, VNNI, GFNI, and DLBoost, forming Intel's first attempt at providing hardware acceleration for AI neural-net building/training. The company plans a more comprehensive hardware accelerator with "Meteor Lake," called AI Boost.

Hardware tipster momomo_us has once again discovered unannounced AMD gear - today's tweet points to a pair of Ryzen Threadripper 7000 CPU families. Team Red's "Storm Peak" processors received some attention at the tail end of May, thanks to CPUID releasing version 2.06 of CPU-Z which contained newly updated "preliminary support" for the Ryzen Threadripper 7000 series. Industry experts anticipate that this Zen 4-based product range will shake up the workstation and HEDT markets upon arrival - with predictions of a Q3 2023 launch window. According to the leaked listings posted by momomo_us on social media—future workstation PCs will be catered for with AMD's PRO "79x5WX" family, and HEDT systems will be best served by non-PRO "79x0X" variants.

Prior leaks allege that the Ryzen Threadripper PRO 7905WX "workstation" range will be compatible with AMD's SP5 socket. This high end platform should support 8-channel DDR5 memory, and be capable of running up to 128 PCIe Gen 5 lanes and 8 PCIe Gen 3 lanes, although it lacks CPU and memory overclocking functions. In contrast the Ryzen Threadripper 7900X HEDT range is expected to offer full overclocking support for CPU and memory—but tipsters reckon its appeal could be limited by the platform's SP6 socket being restricted to 4-channel DDR5 memory configurations and a maximum 64 PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes—as seen on AMD's EPYC 8004 "Siena" family.

CPUID recently released version 2.06 of the globally popular free CPU-Z utility which includes updates to support reporting of a variety of recent or obscure CPU and GPU models. Intel's "Alder Lake-N", AMD's recently released "Dragon Range" mobile Zen 4 processors, Zhoaxin's KH-40000 and KX-6000G, and of course NVIDIA's RTX 4060 Ti as well as AMD's RX 7600. Most interesting of all is a small addition down at the very bottom of the list, "Preliminary support for AMD Storm Peak platform." "Storm Peak" is AMD's yet to be announced Ryzen Threadripper 7000 series which will feature "Zen 4" and hopefully heat up competition in the HEDT market. No detailed specifications or information on SKUs have been released yet with "Storm Peak" expected to receive a proper announcement sometime in Q3 2023. The mention on CPU-Z suggests that the platform is nearing market readiness, and possibly that the folks at CPUID have been seeded samples or specifications to prepare with. Threadripper 7000 is expected to be released on yet another new socket, TR5, and has been rumored to be coming in both HEDT and workstation variants.

Intel brought competition to the HEDT market for the first time in nearly 4 years with the release of their Sapphire Rapids Xeon W range of processors back in February. Xeon W features unlocked SKUs tackling AMD's Threadripper 5000 series from top to bottom; going as high as the 56-core Xeon w9-3495X at a blistering $5,889 USD to as low as ~$1,000 USD for the 12-core Xeon w5-2455X. Intel also interspersed some lower cost locked SKUs to allow system integrators to offer the new platform as workstations to the prosumer market that generally cares little about overclocking. With Intel competing directly with Threadripper again it was expected that it wouldn't be long before AMD would be cooking up a response with their latest and greatest.

GeIL, one of the world's leading PC components & peripheral manufacturers today announced the latest Pristine R5 series as well as Spear R5 series server memory products, providing solutions not only for the needs of standard Registered DIMMs which fully complies with the JEDEC specifications but also the market of high-end applications which requires high-performance server memory.

GeIL stated that the popularity of online games and the metaverse brings not simply the growth momentum of the server market, related requirements such as the gaming service, the big data analysis, and AI applications also create the massive needs of cloud computing which customers are now asking for great performance rather than just focusing on stability, reliability and security when it comes to the server products. GeIL further pointed out that the demand for high-bandwidth and large-capacity server memory is therefore continuously and rapidly growing.

DigiTimes has been informed that many of TSMC's customers are likely to postpone usage of the foundry's 3 nm process node into 2024 or beyond, due to a slowdown in the PC hardware market - insider sources suggest that AMD will be sticking with 4 nm and 6 nm nodes for many of its future CPU lineups. The next generation Zen 5-based family is expected to launch in 2024 - which aligns with information issued by AMD via financial reports - a roadmap (based on DigiTime's findings) points to AMD offering a range of mainstream desktop (Granite Ridge) and laptop/mobile CPUs (Fire Range).

No high-end desktop (HEDT) options are marked for release in 2024, and DigiTimes reckons that AMD is planning to release Zen 5-based Ryzen Threadripper processors in the following year. The codename for the Ryzen Threadripper 8000-series seems to be "Shimada Peak" and industry experts think that these HEDT CPUs will eventually succeed the Threadripper "Storm Peak" 7000 family (due for launch later in 2023) - a shared socket design is also a likelihood due to AMD wanting to stretch out the lifespan of mounting connection standards by avoiding costly decisions - their sTRX4/SP3r3 socket only survived for one generation.

ORIGIN PC, a leader in custom high-performance systems, announced today the availability of new Intel Xeon W-3400 processors for their L-Class and R-Class systems. Improve your productivity and workflows with top of the line workstations crafted with the latest premier hardware. Whether it's for anything from content creation to artificial intelligence work, bring in the versatile power of Intel's advanced computing speed and efficiency. Access clock speeds up to 4.8 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Max, up to 56 cores in a single socket, 105 MB of L3 cache, support for up to 4 TB of memory capacity, and up to 112 CPU PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes.

Get up to 28% single thread or 120% multi thread increased performance, when compared to the previous generation of Xeon processors, and deliver the best results for your business or profession. The Intel Xeon W-3400 processors push forward with various new technologies, DDR5 memory support, and security features. Stay up to date and stay prepared - customize your ORIGIN PC so that it's ready for any future needs within your industry or increases in workload demand.

ASRock, with the help of legendary overclocker Splave have used their new W790 WS to take Intel's Sapphire Rapids based Xeon w7-2495X as high as 5.3 GHz to grab a pile of first place global performance scores on HWBOT. In total they've secured 14 global records in the 24-core category, and 18 more records in the w7-2495X hardware category. What is perhaps slightly more impressive is that they managed to exceed the officially supported DDR5-4800 by 2000 MT/s, achieving a frequency of 3400 MHz (6800 MT/s) with a CAS Latency of 32. The results were all produced with a custom water cooled configuration, with many benchmarks needing below 5 GHz clocks to remain stable enough for validation, so there is certainly room for higher scores under more exotic cooling solutions.

One of the more interesting details presented in the screenshots of certain benchmark results such as Y-Cruncher and Cinebench R15 is the gargantuan power draw exhibited by the w7-2495X. With a rated Vcore of 1.22v the 24-core sucks down over 500 W. We have already seen the 56-core w9-3495X pull a full kilowatt in early overclocking sessions, so the power draw here is not entirely without merit. Needless to say while Intel is finally offering a compelling HEDT lineup of unlocked processors, you may not necessarily be able to squeeze much out of them before tripping your breakers. As for ASRock's records it's still early days for the new Xeon W lineup and there will be a revolving door of world record holders before the final ounce of performance is squeezed from these chips.

Leading memory provider Team Group today has announced a breakthrough in specs for its newest DDR5 ECC R-DIMM memory module, which has an increased clock rate of 5,600 MHz, meeting the JEDEC standard for high-performance specifications. In addition, the company has collaborated with well-known motherboard manufacturer ASRock to complete compatibility testing on HEDT platforms equipped with Intel 4th Gen Xeon processors, codenamed Sapphire Rapids, and W790 motherboards. The memory module not only fully supports XMP 3.0, it is also the overclocking DDR5 ECC R-DIMM memory in the market today with a highest clock rate of 6,800 MHz.

Sapphire Rapids is Intel's first server processor to support DDR5 ECC R-DIMM memory. When it's paired with the next-generation W790 workstation motherboard, users can adjust the CPU's overclocking settings in BIOS and enable the clock speed adjustment feature of DDR5 ECC R-DIMM memory. Having undergone strict compatibility and stability testing, the JEDEC-compliant, high-frequency memory comes in both 16 GB and 32 GB capacity variants to meet the demand for workstation upgrades. The memory is also available in 6,400 MHz and 6,800 MHz models with XMP 3.0 support, providing next-gen HEDT platforms with cutting-edge performance.

Thanks to the attribution of Puget Systems, we have a preview of Intel's latest Xeon W-3400 and Xeon W-2400 workstation processors based on Sapphire Rapids core technology. Delivering up to 56 cores and 112 threads, these CPUs are paired with up to eight TeraBytes of eight-channel DDR5-4800 memory. For expansion, they offer up to 112 PCIe 5.0 lanes come with up to 350 Watt TDP; some models are unlocked for overclocking. This interesting HEDT family for workstation usage comes at a premium with an MSRP of $5,889 for the top-end SKU, and motherboard prices are also on the pricey side. However, all of this should come as no surprise given the expected performance professionals expect from these chips. Puget Systems has published test results that include: Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Unreal Engine, Cinebench R23.2, Blender, and V-Ray. Note that Puget Systems said that: "While this post has been an interesting preview of the new Xeon processors, there is still a TON of testing we want to do. The optimizations Intel is working on is of course at the top, but there are several other topics we are highly interested in." So we expect better numbers in the future.Below, you can see the comparison with AMD's competing Threadripper Pro HEDT SKUs, along with power usage using different Windows OS power profiles:

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).

Intel today revealed that it will launch its Xeon W "Sapphire Rapids-WS" processors for workstations and high-end desktops (HEDTs) at a launch event dated February 15, 2023. The series is expected to consist of two distinct classes of processors, the Xeon W-2400 series, and the Xeon W-3400 series, which are rumored to be available from different dates within Q1-2023. The W-3400 series and W-2400 series could be differentiated with platform I/O and core-counts. The W-3400 series is expected to put out the full PCIe Gen 5 112-lane I/O of the "Sapphire Rapids" MCM, while the W-2400 series has a narrower 64-lane PCIe Gen 5 interface. The two could also differ in DDR5 memory channels (8 for the W-3400 series vs. 4 for the W-2400 series), and hence maximum memory supported (4 TB vs. 2 TB, respectively), although both support ECC. Intel W790 is expected to be the common chipset for both.

AMD won't release its Ryzen Threadripper 7000WX "Storm Peak" workstation processors any time before September 2023, suggests a reliable source with AMD leaks. The push to Q3 probably has to do with giving AMD enough "Zen 4" CCD volumes to ship high-margin EPYC "Genoa" server processors first, before the company can turn its attention to the HEDT and workstation markets.

While all indications are that AMD give the "Zen 4" Threadripper a similar treatment this generation as it did with the "Zen 3," by confining it to the workstation segment with only Threadripper 7000WX SKUs that could be OEM-exclusives before crawling their way to the retail market; the source has an interesting theory, that the company could even target the client HEDT market with these chips. The company will also adequately segment the Threadripper 7000WX SKUs apart from EPYC "Genoa" processors.

Intel is planning to refresh its desktop processor product stack with new "Raptor Lake Refresh" SKUs in Q3-2023, according to a leaked roadmap. At this point it's unclear if these are just new SKUs within the 13th Gen Core desktop product stack, or if they'll form the 14th Gen Core family, much in the same way as "Coffee Lake Refresh" formed the 9th Gen Core, replacing the 8th Gen Core "Coffee Lake." At this point we don't know what constitutes "Raptor Lake Refresh," but it provides Intel's product managers with the opportunity to increase CPU core-counts across the product stack without needing a new silicon (the Raptor Lake silicon has 8 P-cores and 16 E-cores), slightly higher clock-speeds, and other improvements. We don't know if this will herald a new CPU socket or platform at this point, either.

The most interesting item in this leaked roadmap slide has to be the reference to the "mainstream workstation" segment, with products in the 250 W TDP bracket. The so-called "Sapphire Rapids 64L" could be a cut-down version of the "Sapphire Rapids" enterprise processor on a new socket, backed by the Intel W790 chipset. The "64L" part of the codename could be a reference to its PCIe Gen 5 lane count of 64, which is less than the 112 available to the full "Sapphire Rapids" silicon in its W-3400 product-stack. It's unclear if these processors feature a Core X branding like their predecessors from the "Cascade Lake-X" family, or Xeon W. Besides fewer PCIe lanes, Intel could also segment these chips with fewer DDR5 memory channels, though both the PCIe and DDR5 connectivity will be much wider than those of the "Raptor Lake-S" mainstream desktop processors.

Intel is planning a January 2023 market debut of its 4th Gen Xeon Scalable "Sapphire Rapids" server processors, which will be followed rather quickly by the launch of Xeon W-3400 and W-2400 processors targeting a segment of the market that spans HEDTs and workstations. According to information scored by leaf_hobby, a reliable source with Intel roadmap leaks; the company is planning a February 2023 announcement of these processors, followed by availability of the W-2400 in March, and W-3400 in April.

Intel could extensively market the various hardware-accelerators on the "Sapphire Rapids" MCM to the workstation crowd, where they might help users overcome the rather low CPU core-count of these processors compared their upcoming AMD Threadripper 7000 series counterparts. "Sapphire Rapids" tops out at 60-core/120-thread per socket, whereas the SP5-based Threadripper 7000 is expected to offer 96-core/192-thread. Both platforms offer the latest I/O, including PCIe Gen 5, CXL, and ECC DDR5 memory.

Intel's Sapphire Rapids CPUs are designed to represent the company's finest work for the server/enterprise and high-end desktop processor (HEDT) sector. According to Wccftech, we have an idea of the launch date and availability of the HEDT Sapphire Rapids Workstation counterparts, codenamed Fishhawk Falls. The Intel Sapphire Rapids-WS CPU and W790 motherboard unveil should happen on the 7th week of 2023, which means the 12th Feb - 18th Feb launch window. For availability, April of 2023 is scheduled to meet the needs of the upcoming HEDT clients. With a declining HEDT market, Intel is in no rush to deliver the CPUs, with priority being the server Sapphire Rapids designs.

As a reminder, the HEDT models should come with up to 56 cores and 112 threads, 105 MB of L3 cache, 350 W TDP, and 112 PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes. For memory, the platform support 8-channel DDR5-4400 (1DPC) / DDR5-4800 (2DPC) configurations with a capacity of up to 4 TB.

AMD will build "Zen 4" based Ryzen Threadripper processors in an attempt to meet competition from Intel, which is rumored to launch HEDT processors of its own based on "Sapphire Rapids." While Intel's chip tops out at 60-core/120-thread and has a constellation of task-specific hardware-accelerators, AMD will arm its processors with raw CPU core-count, going as high up as 96-core/192-thread. The company has assigned the codename "Storm Peak" for these chips.

The Ryzen Threadripper 7000-series "Storm Peak" processor engineering samples surfaced on the Einstein@Home user database. As many as three OPNs have surfaced, "AMD Eng Sample: 100-000000884-21_N" and "AMD Eng Sample: 100-000000884-20_Y," which are 96-core/192-thread; and the "AMD Eng Sample: 100-000000454-20_Y," which is 64-core/128-thread. "Storm Peak" is likely just a variation of EPYC "Genoa," geared for higher frequencies.

Intel expanded its Arc "Alchemist" desktop graphics card series with the entry-level Arc A310. This GPU has specs that enable Intel's AIB partners to build low-profile graphics cards that are possibly even single-slot, or conventional sized with fanless cooling. The A310 is being pushed as a slight upgrade over the iGPU, and an alternative to cards such as the AMD Radeon RX 6400. Its target user would want to build a 4K or 8K HTPC, or even be a workstation/HEDT user with a processor that lacks integrated graphics, and wants to use a couple of high-resolution monitors. There is no reference board design, but we expect it to look similar to the Arc Pro A40 in dimensions (pictured below), except with full-size DP and HDMI in place of those mDP connectors, and a full-height bracket out of the box.

The A310 is carved out of the 6 nm "ACM-G11" silicon by enabling 6 out of 8 Xe Cores (that's 96 out of 128 EUs, or 768 out of 1,024 unified shaders). You also get 96 XMX units that accelerate AI; and 6 ray tracing units. The GPU runs at 2.00 GHz, compared to 2.10 GHz on the A380. The memory sub-system has been narrowed by a third—you get 4 GB of 15.5 Gbps GDDR6 memory across a 64-bit wide memory interface. In comparison, the A380 has 6 GB of memory across a 96-bit memory bus. The card features a PCI-Express 4.0 x8 host interface, and with its typical power expected to be well under the 75 W-mark, most custom cards could lack any power connectors.

Yesterday Intel announced its 13th generation Raptor Lake processor lineup. The top-of-the-line model, Core i9-13900KS, features eight P-cores and 16 E-cores for a total of 24 cores in the SoC. However, that may not represent the maximum for Raptor Lake, as there appears to be another segment equipped with a Raptor Lake processor with 34 cores. According to findings of Tom's Hardware, the Intel Innovation event in San Jose had a surprise for everyone, as there was a booth to display Raptor Lake silicon wafers. After closer examination, the wafer had cutouts for dies that contained as many as 34 cores.

With all cores being the same size, it is assumed that those are P-cores interconnected on a mesh, unlike the traditional ring bus that the rest of Raptor Lake processors use. On the back of the wafer was a label stating, "Raptor Lake-S, 34 core". This suggests that the CPU is perhaps a part of the HEDT offerings that Intel will soon update with the 13th generation designs and that the company showcased a production wafer for those SKUs. We expect to hear more about this unknown 34-core configuration sometime in the future as the new Intel Core generation begins its rollout.

An AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX 64-core/128-thread workstation processor was overclocked to 5.15 GHz all-core by Taiwanese overclocker TSAIK, under extreme cooling, and it [predictably] crushed the Cinebench R23 world-record. The chip scored a godlike 116142 points in the multi-threaded benchmark, ahead of the previous record-holder—105170 points scored on a Threadripper 3990X, by Splave.

The 5995WX, as we mentioned, was subjected to extreme cooling, using liquid-nitrogen. using a Bitspower-made evaporator. The chip was supported by 128 GB of octal-channel DDR4-3200 memory, and an MSI PRO WS WRX80 motherboard. Windows 10 21H2 was the OS of choice. Threadrippers will continue to dominate multi-threaded CPU benchmark leaderboards until Intel can put up a fight with an HEDT variant of its upcoming "Sapphire Rapids" processor.

Intel's upcoming Sapphire Rapids processors will not only be present in the server sector but will also span the high-end desktop (HEDT) platform. Today, according to the findings of a Twitter user, @InstLatX64, we have an appearance of Intel's upcoming Sapphire Rapids HEDT SKU in Kernel.org boot logs. Named Intel Xeon W9-3495, this model features 56 cores and 112 threads. While there is no specific information about base and boost frequencies, we know that the SKU supports AVX-512 and AMX instructions. This is a welcome addition, as we have seen Intel disable AVX-512 on consumer chips altogether.

With a high core count and additional instructions for Deep Learning, this CPU will power workstations sometimes in the future. With the late arrival of Sapphire Rapids for servers, a HEDT variant should follow.

Last week, AMD announced that its Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5900WX-series of processors were going to be available from more OEMs, with an eventual retail version of the three models going to be available. Now the company has shared the retail pricing for the new workstation processors and it would appear that AMD's HEDT platform has become unobtanium for most consumers, after having been one of the cheapest platforms out there only a couple of generations ago. According to Tom's Hardware, whom AMD shared the pricing with, the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5965WX, the 24 core, 48 thread entry level model, will start at US$2,399, which is more than a 32 core, 64 thread Threadripper 3970X, which has a retail price of US$1,999.

A step up is the 32 core, 64 thread Threadripper Pro 5975WX for US$3,299 and at the top of the stacks, sits the 64 core, 128 thread Threadripper Pro 5995WX for the hefty price of US$6,499. All three models have 128 PCIe lanes and a 280 W TDP. AMD seems to have decided to cash in on its core and thread advantage over Intel, as Intel's highest-end workstation chip is the Xeon W-3375, with 38 cores and 76 threads, which comes in at US$4,499, but only has half the PCIe lane count and a much smaller cache. That said, Intel is expected to launch its 4th generation of Xeon W processors, codenamed Sapphire Rapids later this year, which is expected to feature a 56 core, 112 thread SKU, which should bring some competition to AMD in this market segment.

Intel's high-end desktop (HEDT), usually reserved for workstation and enterprise applications, is due for an update, and the company is readying an entire family of updated products. Today, we found a leak of what appears to be an Intel Sapphire Rapids design made for desktops. Called Xeon W5-3433, the CPU appears in the SiSoftware Sandra benchmark database. It carries a configuration of 16 cores and 32 threads and is equipped with 32 MB of L2 cache and 45 MB of L3 cache. Having 2 MB of L2 cache per core suggests that the design is not an Alder Lake variation. This specific SKU is clocked at 1.99 GHz, meaning an early engineering sample.

The Sapphire Rapids HEDT platform is codenamed FishHawk Falls. Intel is supposed to offer Alder Lake-X processors with higher core counts and the FishHawk Falls. Both will be running on the same W790 chipset; however, the Sapphire Rapids implementation will carry more cores in a Xeon package designed for professionals. There was an Ice Lake-X Xeon processor called Xeon W-3335 with 16 cores and 32 threads, meaning that the leaked Xeon W5-3433 is its direct successor.

Enthused with its IPC leadership, Intel is possibly planning a return to the high-end desktop (HEDT) market segment, with the "Alder Lake-X" line of processors, according to a Tom's Hardware report citing a curious-looking addition to an AIDA64 beta change-log. The exact nature of "Alder Lake-X" (ADL-X) still remains a mystery—one theory holds that ADL-X could be a consumer variant of the "Sapphire Rapids" microarchitecture, much like how the 10th Gen Core "Cascade Lake-X" was to "Cascade Lake," a server processor microarchitecture. Given that Intel is calling it "Alder Lake-X" and not "Sapphire Rapids-X," it could even be a whole new client-specific silicon. What's the difference between the two? It's all in the cores.

While both "Alder Lake" and "Sapphire Rapids" come with "Golden Cove" performance cores (P-cores), they use variants of it. Alder Lake has the client-specific variant with 1.25 MB L2 cache, a lighter client-relevant ISA, and other optimizations that enable it to run at higher clock speeds. Sapphire Rapids, on the other hand, will use a server-specific variant of "Golden Cove" that's optimized for the Mesh interconnect, has 2 MB of L2 cache, a server/HPC-relevant ISA, and a propensity to run at lower clock speeds, to support the silicon's overall TDP and high CPU core-count.