Intel’s Next-Gen Diamond Rapids “Xeon 7” CPU Smiles For The Camera, A 256 P-Core Chip Built On 18A-P That Aims For A 2027 Launch - Wccftech
Intel has showcased its next-generation Diamond Rapids "Xeon 7" CPU at an event in China, revealing the 256 P-core chip built on 18A-P process technology with a planned 2027 launch.
Intel has shown off its next-generation Diamond Rapids "Xeon 7" CPU at an event in China, as the 18A-P chip closes in on launch next year. The company confirmed that the CPUs will pack 256 P-Cores and showcased the first real samples at the Tencent Global Digital Ecosystem Conference.
During the event, Intel announced it is upgrading its existing CVM's (Cloud Infrastructure) from Granite Rapids-AP Xeon 6 to Clearwater Forest-AP Xeon 6+. According to Tencent, these new Xeon 6+ "Clearwater Forest" CPUs enable support for over 350 concurrent sandboxes at an average creation latency of 200ms, which is 1.46x higher than existing test platforms.
AI Acceleration
Intel's AMX Extensions significantly accelerate inference performance across small AI LLMs, achieving a price/performance ratio close to GPUs by effectively utilizing idle CPU resources. Compared to traditional AVX-512, the AMX acceleration offers a 1.3 to 3.4x improvement in performance.
Diamond Rapids is Intel's CPU product soon to be launched for digital center. Intel now refers to it as a "CPU designed specifically for agent AI infrastructure," featuring its high core count and compatibility with The AMX & AVX 10.2 extension refers to the support of the token, large capacity LLC, high memory bandwidth and other attributes.
Market Competition
The showcased Diamond Rapids chip comes in a large package utilizing a brand-new heat spreader and pin layout designed for the LGA 9324 socket. This confirms Intel's Diamond Rapids CPUs are in production, though still scheduled for a 2027 launch. The chip will be the first data center product featuring 18A-P process technology.
AMD recently launched its EPYC 9006 "Venice" CPUs and plans Verano and upgraded Venice options next year. Benchmarks show 6th Gen EPYC CPUs have outperformed Intel's Granite Rapids and NVIDIA's Vera, making it challenging for Diamond Rapids to compete. Intel expects to become competitive against AMD with its Coral Rapids lineup in 2028.
Related
