Intel Hopes Lengthy-Awaited Sapphire Rapids Will Increase Knowledge Heart Enterprise

November 09, 2022, 06:13 PM EST

The high-octane CPU and GPU releases will come on the heels of rival AMD’s anticipated EPYC knowledge middle chip releases as the businesses wrestle for enterprise in a troublesome market. ‘This shall be a really important product for Intel,’ one channel companion says.

Intel’s oft-delayed and much-anticipated Sapphire Rapids x86 CPU shall be launched in January, together with the Ponte Vecchio GPU as a part of the Max Sequence to spice up knowledge middle productiveness – and the corporate touted benchmark checks Wednesday that exhibit the road’s processing muscle.

The Santa Clara, Calif. chip large’s Max Sequence guarantees top-of-line excessive efficiency computing (HPC) and synthetic intelligence (AI) workload capabilities. The Xeon Max CPU (codenamed Sapphire Rapids) is the primary x86-based processor with bandwidth reminiscence, accelerating many HPC workloads with out the necessity for code modifications, the corporate says.

Intel’s foray into GPU manufacturing challenges Nvidia’s GPU knowledge middle dominance with the Max Sequence GPU (code-named Ponte Vecchio), which the corporate touts as its highest density processor with greater than 100 billion transistors packed right into a 47-tile packets with as much as 128 GB of excessive bandwidth reminiscence.

[RELATED STORY: Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger On Potential Layoffs, The ‘Unpredictable’ Economy And Consolidation In The Chip Market]

It’s possible no coincidence that Intel’s HPC product announcement comes simply as AMD is ready to launch its personal EPYC line of high-powered knowledge middle merchandise. AMD lately has made important positive aspects within the x86 knowledge middle market, taking share from Intel and ramping up competitors between the 2 chipmakers. Intel says the Max Sequence CPU supplies 68 % much less energy utilization than AMD’s Milan-X cluster for a similar HPC efficiency. In workload benchmarks, Intel claims 2.4 instances sooner speeds for local weather modeling than AMD Milan-X.

Intel posted a disappointing third-quarter earnings report final week, with the information middle enterprise taking a large hit, with gross sales down 26 % within the quarter to $4.2 billion, in contrast with $5.8 billion gross sales within the year-ago quarter. Working earnings for the information middle group, in the meantime, dropped from $2.3 billion within the yr in the past quarter to zero.

Talking to analysts through the third quarter earnings name, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger mentioned the corporate hoped to achieve share with the brand new product releases, however to not anticipate an prompt turnaround. “Because the product line will get stronger, we shall be ready to regain share and regain ASP (Software Service Supplier market) with ramped-up Sapphire Rapids, however we nonetheless see ourselves not within the place that we’re gaining share.”

Intel had initially deliberate to ship the brand new Xeon Max Sequence CPUs within the fourth quarter of 2021. That aim has been pushed out just a few instances, however Intel insists the brand new chips shall be prepared for the January product launch. Widespread availability, nevertheless, could also be one other concern. Earlier launches have taken a number of months to ramp to mass manufacturing.

Kent Tibbils, vice chairman of promoting for Intel distributor ASI Corp. in Fremont, Calif., mentioned demand for the brand new merchandise needs to be sturdy inside the channel. “Over time, we could have forgotten about all of the issues coming on this platform,” he mentioned. “We’re listening to a number of optimistic suggestions from clients who’ve a number of pleasure for the product. This shall be a big product for Intel. Will it flip round earnings? I don’t know. The query goes to be if these new merchandise will take share away from AMD and decelerate their momentum? Our clients appear to be very optimistic for Intel.”

In an interview with CRN, Jason Kennedy, Intel’s senior director for buyer engagement and product administration for Xeon, mentioned the corporate is relying on channel companions to get the phrase out about its new choices. “Our channel relationships stay essential,” he mentioned. “The expectation is that we’ll handle their wants as an organization, and rightfully so. Intel’s not only a chip firm. We’re making these investments in relationships [in the channel].”