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<p align="center"></p><p><p> Reports from ISSCC are coming out that Intel is preparing to launch a 15-core Xeon CPU.  The 15-core model was postulated before Ivy Bridge-E launch, along with 12-core and 10-core models – the latter two are currently on the market but Intel was rather silent on the 15-core SKU, presumably because it harder to manufacturer one with the right voltage characteristics.  <strike>Releasing a 15-core SKU is a little odd, and one would assume is most likely a 16-core model with one of the cores disabled – based on Intel’s history I doubt this core will be able to be re-enabled should the silicon still work.</strike> I just received the official documents and the 15 core SKU is natively 15-core.</p> <p> Information on the top end CPU is as follows:</p> <ul> <li>  4.31 billion transistors</li> <li>  Will be in the Xeon E7 line-up, suited for 4P/8P systems (8 * 15 * 2 = 240 threads potential)</li> <li>  3.8 GHz Turbo Frequency</li> <li>  150W TDP</li> <li>  40 PCIe lanes</li> </ul> <p> Judging by the available information, it would seem that Intel are preparing a stack of ‘Ivytown’ processors along this design, and thus a range of Xeon E7 processors, from 1.4 GHz to 3.8 GHz, drawing between 40W and 150W, similar to the Xeon E5 v2 range.</p> <p> Predictions have Ivytown to be announced next week, with these details being part of the ISSCC conference talks.  In comparison to some of the other Xeon CPUs available, as well as the last generation:</p> <table border="0" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr> <td class="contentwhite" colspan="6"> Intel Xeon Comparison</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="contentwhite">  </td> <td class="contentwhite"> Xeon E3-1280 v3</td> <td class="contentwhite"> Xeon E5-2687W</td> <td class="contentwhite"> Xeon E5-2697 v2</td> <td class="contentwhite"> Xeon E7-8870</td> <td class="contentwhite"> Xeon E7-8890 v2</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="contentwhite"> Socket</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> LGA1150</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> LGA2011</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> LGA2011</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> LGA1567</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> LGA2011</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="contentwhite"> Architecture</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> Haswell</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> Sandy Bridge-EP</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> Ivy Bridge-EP</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> Westmere-EX</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> Ivy Bridge-EX</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="contentwhite"> Codename</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> Denlow</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> Romley</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> Romley</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> Boxboro</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> Brickland</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="contentwhite"> Cores / Threads</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 4 / 8</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 8 / 16</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 12 / 24</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 10 / 20</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 15 / 30</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="contentwhite"> CPU Speed</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 3.6 GHz</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 3.1 GHz</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 2.7 GHz</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 2.4 GHz</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 2.8 GHz</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="contentwhite"> CPU Turbo</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 4.0 GHz</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 3.8 GHz</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 3.5 GHz</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 2.8 GHz</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 2.8 GHz</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="contentwhite"> L3 Cache</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 8 MB</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 20 MB</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 30 MB</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 30 MB</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 37.5 MB</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="contentwhite"> TDP</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 82 W</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 150 W</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 130 W</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 130 W</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 155 W</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="contentwhite"> Memory</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> DDR3-1600</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> DDR3-1600</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> DDR3-1866</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> DDR3-1600</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> ?</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="contentwhite"> DIMMs per Channel</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 2</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 2</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 2</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 2</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> 3 ?</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="contentwhite"> Price at Intro</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> $612</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> $1885</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> $2614</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> $4616</td> <td style="text-align: center;"> >$5000 ?</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p> According to CPU-World, there are 8 members of the Xeon E7-8xxx v2 range planned, from 6 to 15 cores and 105W to 155W, along with some E7-4xxx v2 also featuring 15 core models, with 2.8 GHz being the top 15-core model speed at 155W. </p> <p> All this is tentative until Intel makes a formal announcement, but there is clearly room at the high end.  The tradeoff is always between core density and frequency, with the higher frequency models having lower core counts in order to offset power usage.  If we get more information from ISSCC we will let you know.</p> <p> Original Source: PCWorld</p> </p>
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