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Intel Xeon E7 Ivy Bridge-EX die (15 core)

Last week, Intel announced and demoed a 28-cadre CPU running at 5GHz. Since and then, it's been discovered that the original part Intel demoed was overclocked to hit these frequencies, that the company was using a water chiller capable of dissipating 1770W to cool the CPU, and the entire demo now looks much more like Intel was attempting to have the wind out of AMD'due south 32-core Threadripper announcement than any endeavour to launch a serial product.

Permit's support and review. Intel already makes a serial of 28-core CPUs, including the 28-core Xeon Platinum 8180. That flake has a two.5GHz base of operations clock, a 3.8GHz boost clock, and a 205W TDP. Intel TDPs are derived from base clocks only, so we already know that the default version of the core is going to be drawing a significant amount of power. At that place's simply no way effectually it — frequency gains eat ability quickly when you're driving 28 cores in the same socket. WikiChip claims that the full-core boost clock on the Xeon 8180 is 3.2GHz, simply have this with a grain of salt since Intel doesn't formally release these numbers anymore.

The 5GHz CPU that Intel showed at Computex last calendar week already came with some obvious caveats fastened. Information technology debuted in a special LGA3647 socket with 4 12V CPU power connectors on the motherboard. That's the start clue that nosotros're dealing with a truly massive power describe — i of these 8-pivot connectors is standard on a high-end lath and 2 of them on the highest-end boards is typically a bit of overkill. The cooler in question — an Hailea water chiller — is another sign that this CPU has truly mammoth power dissipation requirements.

At present it'south possible that Intel was just hedging its bets, just that's unlikely. Anandtech claims that a Core i9-7980XE at 4.9GHz draws a kilowatt, which ways the idea of a 28-core chip at the aforementioned clock speed hitting 1.7kW isn't crazy. The need for four 8-pivot power connectors and the use of the enormous cooler farther emphasize the effect.

And math isn't in Intel's favor, either. If each of the 28 cores had a 99 pct chance to striking 5GHz when manufactured, the take chances of getting a CPU with 28 cores that can hit 5GHz is around 75 percentage. If each CPU core has a baseline 90 pct gamble to striking 5GHz, the chance of an entire 28-core chip hitting that frequency is just 5 per centum. Obviously CPU yields are a bit more complicated than this, merely napkin-math is skilful enough for our purposes, particularly since it'due south a well-known fact that CPUs with higher cadre counts struggle more to hit the same frequencies on all core workloads as lower-count chips do. It's but harder to make certain that every unmarried CPU cadre can hit the same overclocked frequency.

Put the clues together, along with Intel's admission that it never told anyone at Computex that the CPU was overclocked, and it's obvious that standard air-cooled CPUs are never going to be able to striking and maintain these all-core boost frequencies. The power consumption is simply also high. Combined power for CPU and cooling could exist over 2kW, and that means working with multiple power supplies in a single chassis — not something almost enthusiasts or fifty-fifty most workstations ever offer. This chip, as currently constituted and shown, is built for the niche of a niche of a niche market. And later all of that, yous'd amend accept one hell of a excursion to plug it into — because 2kW is enough to accident your average 15 amp circuit breaker. If you're going to run it all-out, you'd best be plugged into 20 amp, minimum.

Then what would we ultimately conclude, post-obit Intel's annunciation? The company is working on faster Xeon 28-core CPUs. They aren't going to run at an all-cadre boost speed of 5GHz, because that clock charge per unit isn't going to be sustainable unless Intel intends to assistance create a new ecosystem for a unmarried motherboard with multiple ability supplies and water chillers with their own substantial cost tag and offer complementary dwelling house rewiring. Spoiler: It isn't. And equally a barricade against AMD's 32-cadre Threadripper announcement, this motion was a bust. If y'all're going to block a competitor launch with a product of your ain, you'd all-time exist able to evangelize. And Intel tin can't evangelize the part it demonstrated at Computex, because the laws of physics don't allow it.

We don't know exactly how Threadripper's 32 cores will perform confronting Intel CPUs, and there are genuine questions about how well the CPU will scale given its use of just four memory channels. But Intel ultimately shot itself in the pes with this announcement. By choosing to prioritize a 5GHz overclocked chip it'll never really launch, it dirty the very real question of how its 28-cadre chips will compete against AMD and what kind of features or capabilities Skylake-X users should expect from a potential debut later this year. A more realistic demo could've whetted consumer appetites for cores they'll actually be able to buy a few months from now. The 3.4GHz heave clock AMD is evidently targeting for these chips isn't very high and Intel has historically hit higher frequencies.

Instead, we're left with a rather confusing muddle. Intel is apparently building a new 28-core chip. That chip may even be capable of a 5GHz boost clock — on a core or ii. But the chances that we're going to get a 28-core 5GHz CPU, given what Intel went through to get the arrangement working in the beginning place, is effectively zilch.

An Intel spokesperson has contacted ET to state: ""The 28C demo at the keynote is a real product in development targeted at the loftier terminate prosumer and enthusiast audience. Intel continues to optimize design and procedure beyond its products, and the demo showcased an upcoming Intel product having the capability of 5.0 GHz overclocking beyond all 28 cores."

Absent-minded any guarantee of that capability, the chances of materially hit it are extremely low.