Renowned hardware leaker YuuKi_AnS has published the first photos of Intel's 6th Generation Xeon Scalable 'Granite Rapids-AP' processor, expected to hit the market in 2024 or 2025. The CPU uses Intel's LGA7529 packaging and will share a platform with the company's codenamed Sierra Forest processor.
Engineering samples of Intel's Xeon Scalable 'Granite Rapids' look different than contemporary Xeon Scalable CPUs, which is not particularly surprising as these processors are considerably larger than existing ones. Meanwhile, the fact that these CPUs are already in the wild is not particularly surprising, as the product is less than two years away, so server makers are already testing it.
Furthermore, Intel's next-generation data center processors will reportedly feature up to 96 PCIe Gen 5 lanes, with the CXL protocol on top to support upcoming accelerators/co-processors, storage devices, memory expanders, and other PCIe-enabled devices. The processors are also expected to support six sets of 24 UPI links, to enable efficient CPU-to-CPU communication.
Intel is gearing up a platform dubbed 'Avenue City RP' to support the new Granite Rapids and Sierra Forest processors. This motherboard will facilitate critical CPU features, along with PFR 4.0 root of trust, a novel RunBMC AST26000 module, and OCP 3.0 network cards.
