Twitter user YuuKi_AnS has shared several screenshots exposing the information about Intel's upcoming Sapphire Rapids-SP 56-core processor. While there are no benchmarks, we get a sneak peek at the chip's specifications.
Like Intel's mainstream Alder Lake processors, Sapphire Rapids will feature the chipmaker's Golden Cove cores and Intel 7 node, previously known as the 10nm Enhanced SuperFin process. The leaked Sapphire Rapids-SP processor has 56 cores and 112 threads. On paper, it looks underwhelming since AMD's EPYC 7003 (Milan) chips span up to 64 cores and 128 threads. Nonetheless, it'll be exciting to see Golden Cove go up against Zen 3 in the data center space.
The 56-core Intel chip also has 112MB of L2 cache and 105MB of L3 cache. The highest tier EPYC 7003 has up to 256MB of L3 cache. However, Intel is also readying Sapphire Rapids with up to 64GB of HBM2e memory; meanwhile, AMD has prepared its Milan-X chips with 512MB of 3D V-Cache.
The Sapphire Rapids-SP processor from YuuKi-AnS is an engineering sample (ES), so don't take the clock speeds seriously. Thus far, the 56-core part operates with a 1.9 GHz base clock and a 3.3 GHz boost clock. According to the report, the single-core boost clock escalates up to 3.7 GHz.
The Sapphire Rapids-SP chip (ES2 QYFS) was on Intel's C741 (Emmitsburg) platform with 1TB of DDR5 memory with CL40-39-38-76 timings. The Socket E (LGA4677) motherboard housed the processor.
The processor has a 350W PL1 rating if the information is accurate and a 420W PL2 rating. However, the actual enforced power limit from inside the BIOS is at a whopping 764W. The EPYC Milan 7763, the flagship Milan SKU, has a 280W TDP. The Twitter user didn't share what type of cooling the Sapphire Rapids-SP processor had at its disposal. However, the report revealed that the Sapphire Rapids-SP chip hit 99 degrees Celsius.
Sapphire Rapids was supposed to come out in the second quarter of the year, but delays have pushed it to the third quarter. That'll be a big problem for Intel since AMD's EPYC 7004 (Genoa) lineup may arrive around the same timeline. Unlike Milan, Genoa will leverage TSMC's groundbreaking 5nm process node and wield AMD's Zen 4 cores. Genoa will also bump EPYC chips' core count from 64 to 96, meaning Sapphire Rapids will contend with a 96-core, 192-thread Genoa monster. As a result, Sapphire Rapids will have its hand full.