Rumor: Xeon E7-v3 CPUs To Carry Up To 18 Cores

The folks over at CPU-World.com posted a list of specifications for some of the upcoming Xeon E7 series processors from Intel. The information was spotted in a CSV (Comma Separated Value) price list for the X-series server products from IBM, so considering this source, the information is likely quite reliable.

We don't normally like writing about rumors, but considering that we've been able to access the CSV file directly from IBM's servers here, it's difficult to let this one slide. The information was also available in the System x3850 X6 and x3950 X6 Types 3837 and 3839 Installation and Service Guide, which you can access here.

The CPUs are based on the Haswell architecture and are baked on the 22nm lithographic process. Therefore, we can expect tremendous performance at relatively low power consumption envelopes. Of course, you'd argue that a 165 W TDP for the most powerful models isn't "low," but if you consider that that's for a chip with a staggering 18 physical cores (36 logical cores with Hyperthreading enabled) running at 2.5 GHz, it really isn't bad.

Comparing these specifications to the similar models in the v2 family, the v3 units shown here appear to be what the Haswell-refresh CPUs were to the original Haswell chips -- a minor update that bumps the clock speeds, adjustments to the TDP, and a few other changes to the instruction sets.

Table source: CPU-World.com

Core counts range from four through 18 cores, and frequencies range from 1.9 GHz through 3.2 GHz. Naturally, the variants with more cores operate at lower clock speeds, otherwise they wouldn't fit within the maximum TDP. Of course, different CPUs will work better or worse depending on the application. A heavily multi-threaded workload will benefit from the higher core count, while single-threaded loads will do better on a chip that features a higher clock speed.

You may wonder whether these chips can idle with low power requirements similar to consumer-grade Haswells, but it might not be a critical statistic. These processors are likely to be very expensive, and letting them idle is a waste of resources – companies will want them to be running as much as possible.

Do note, these aren't intended for consumer use. They are meant for servers where they are used all the time, although they may also make their way into professional workstations for users that really need the power.

Keep in mind that this information has not been confirmed by Intel at this time. It may come from a source that appears to be reliable, but we can never be sure until we see an official announcement. Availability appears to be slated for Q2 2015, which is also unconfirmed.

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