Intel's next-generation Granite Rapids-AP Xeon CPU which will be coming to LGA 7529 servers next year has been pictured.

Intel Granite Rapids Xeon CPU Smiles For The Camera! AP Variant With Up To 60 Cores At 500W

The Intel LGA 7529 socket is designed around the "Birch Stream" platform which will house the 6th Gen Granite Rapids-AP and Sierra Forest CPUs. It won't be the first time that we have seen the LGA 7529 socket but it looks like Intel has already started shipping its next-gen Granite Rapids chips to its very first customers for evaluation and testing purposes.

In pictures leaked by Yuuki_AnS, we get to lay out eyes for the first time on an early Intel Granite Rapids-AP CPU which features a massive IHS on the front and an insane amount of contact pads covering the back. This is a massive chip for a massive socket that can essentially house a total of six AMD Ryzen CPUs within it.

Lisa Spelman, Intel corporate vice president and general manager of Intel Xeon Products, displays a wafer holding Sierra Forest processors. The first Efficiency-core (E-core) processor is on track for the first half of 2024. During an investor webinar on March 29, 2023, Intel announced that Sierra Forest will include 144 cores per socket. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

Additional details provided by the leaker state that there are three Intel Granite Rapids-AP CPUs that are circulating in leaks which include an 18-core variant with 250W TDP, a 35-core variant with 350W TDP, and a 60-core variant with 500W TDP. Additionally, we also get to know the exact CPU Compute and IO die for the Granite Rapids chips. The Granite Rapids-SP chips are expected to use at least three compute dies and that also seems to be true for the Granite Rapids-AP chips. Intel's Compute die for Granite Rapids CPUs will be composed of cores, cache, and memory controllers.

Image Credits: Yuuki_AnS

These SKUs are further divided into two variants, the X1 chips which have just one compute die per package and have been powered-on, and the X3 chips which have three compute dies per package and will be marked as "PRQ" or Production Release Qualification chips. Furthermore, we also get to learn about the Granite Rapids I/O die which will offer:

PCIe 5.0CXL 2.0 (Compute Express Link)UPI 2.0 (Ultra Path Interconnect)QAT (QuickAssist)DLB (Dynamic Load Balance)DSA (Data Streaming Accelerator)IAA (In-Memory Analytics Accelerator)

The Intel 6th Gen Granite Rapids-SP/AP CPUs and the Sierra Forest CPUs will be utilizing vastly different chip designs. The Granite Rapids chips will be based on the "Intel 3" process node and take advantage of the brand new Redwood Cove cores while the Sierra Forest chips will also use the same "Intel 3" process node but feature just Crestmont E-Cores in up to 144-core SKUs.

Intel Granite Rapids-AP CPUs are expected to feature up to 120 cores with 12-channel DDR5 memory support and 96 PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes while Granite Rapids-SP CPUs are expected to feature up to 80 cores with 8-channel DDR5 memory support and 88 PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes.

Intel already provided a demo of a Sierra Forest 144-Core CPU running with 100% health a few months ago but the actual launch is slated for 1H of 2024 whereas Granite Rapids CPUs will be launching in 2H 2024 and replace the upcoming 5th Gen Emerald Rapids Xeon CPUs.

Next-Gen Intel Xeon vs AMD EPYC Generational CPU Comparison (Preliminary):