Intel recently introduced its Xeon 6 family, the latest addition to its server CPU lineup, replacing the old “Scalable” brand. This version features two lines of chips: Granite Rapids, which has P (Performance) cores, and Sierra Forest, which has E (Efficient) cores.
Intel plans to stagger the launch of the Xeon 6 CPUs, with the initial launch of the 6700E chips, followed by the scheduled launch of the Intel Xeon 6900P CPUs in the third quarter of this year. Additional launches, including the 6900E, 6700P, 6500P, Xeon 6 SoC and 6300P, are expected in the first quarter of 2025.
The Xeon 6700E series is designed specifically to cater to hyperscalers and features a 144-core configuration, supporting DDR5 and PCIe Gen5 memory, all within a 250W TDP. Serve at home He had a chance to put the Xeon 6780E and 6766E CPUs to the test and, spoiler alert, said they “shatter Xeon expectations.”
“Super” power consumption
The two Sierra Forest processors went up against AMD's EPYC Bergamo and Siena series and older Intel models, such as the Xeon Gold 5218 from the Cascade Lake generation.
Intel chips were also compared to the Ampere Altra Max, an ARM-based processor known for its efficiency. Finally, the E cores were compared to the P cores of the 5th generation Intel Xeon “Emerald Rapids” series.
For complete results, you will need to consult Serve those at home extensive testing, but the Xeon 6780E and 6766E performed competitively and excelled in power efficiency (the site refers to Sierra Forest's power consumption as “super”) and multi-threaded workloads.
Intel's move to dual-socket capability with these chips clearly gives them an advantage over competitors like AMD's EPYC series and allows for better scalability and flexibility in high-density server environments.
Summarizing the review, Serve those at home Patrick Kennedy noted: “If you still have Xeon E5 servers or container hosts or 1st and 2nd generation Intel “Those energy savings can be channeled directly into adding more AI servers, even if your traditional computing demands are growing slowly.”
