🥇New processors for data centers — we analyze the announcements from the last few months

Discussing multi-core CPUs from global manufacturers.

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48 cores

At the end of 2018, Intel announced the Cascade-AP architecture. These processors will support up to 48 cores, feature a multi-chip layout, and 12 channels of DDR4 DRAM. This approach will provide a high level of parallelism, which will be useful in processing large data in the cloud. The release of products based on Cascade-AP is scheduled for 2019.

Working with 48-core processors, IBM and Samsung are creating chips based on the POWER10architecture. New devices will support the OpenCAPI 4.0 protocol and the NVLink 3.0 bus. The former will ensure backward compatibility with POWER9, while the latter will accelerate data transfer between components of the computing system up to 20 Gbps. It is also known that POWER10 features new input-output technologies and advanced memory controllers.

Initially, the chips were supposed to be manufactured at GlobalFoundries using a 10nm process, but later the choice was made in favor of TSMC and 7nm technology. Development is planned to be completed between 2020 and 2022. By 2023, the corporation will also release POWER11 chips, manufactured using a 7nm process with a transistor density of 20 billion.

According to according to benchmarks, 48-core Intel solutions operate three times faster than their AMD counterparts (with 32 cores). As for POWER10, nothing is known about its performance yet. However, it is anticipated, the new generation of processors is expected to find application in analytics and big data analysis.

56 cores

Similar chips were recently announced by Intel — they will be manufactured using a 14nm process. They support Optane DC memory modules based on 3D Xpoint and include patches for Spectre and Foreshadow vulnerabilities. New devices come with 12 memory channels and a range of built-in accelerators for cloud tasks, as well as for working with AI and ML systems and 5G networks.

The flagship model with 56 cores will be named Platinum 9282. The clock frequency will be 2.6 GHz, with the possibility to overclock up to 3.8 GHz. The chip has 77 MB of L3 cache, forty PCIe 3.0 lanes, and a power rating of 400W per socket. Prices for the processors start at ten thousand dollars.

Developers note, that Optane DC will reduce the reboot time of computing systems from several minutes to a few seconds. The new chip will also enable the operation of a larger number of virtual machines in a cloud environment. It is expected that the 56-core processor will cut the costs of maintaining a single VM by 30%. However, experts say note that the new processors are essentially an updated version of Xeon Scalable. The microarchitecture and clock frequency of the chip remain unchanged.

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64 cores

Such a processor was announced at the end of last year announced at AMD. These are the new 64-core Epyc server chips based on a 7nm process technology. They are expected to be introduced later this year. The number of DDR4 channels will equal eight at a frequency of 2.2 GHz, with an additional 256 MB of L3 cache. The chips will feature support 128 lines of PCI Express 4.0 instead of version 3.0, which will double the bandwidth.

However, some residents of Hacker News believeswarn that the increase in performance is not always beneficial for potential users. Along with increased capabilities, the price of processors rises, which could reduce consumer demand.

Huawei has developed a 64-core processor as well. Their Kunpeng 920 chips are server ARM processors. TSMC manufactures them using a 7nm process technology. The new devices, with a clock frequency of 2.6 GHz and support for PCIe 4.0 and CCIX interfaces, have already been integrated into the TaiShan servers. These are intended for handling big data and cloud applications.

Huawei processors have already shown a 20% performance boost in tests with TaiShan servers. Additionally, memory bandwidth has increased by 46% compared to previous products from the company.

Total

Overall, it can be said that competition in the server chip market will be high in 2019. Manufacturers are adding more cores, equipping processors with support for new data transmission protocols, and striving to make their products multitasking. As a result, data center owners have more options to choose solutions suitable for specific types of workloads and tasks.

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