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Intel was Originally Planning a 60-Core Xeon Sapphire Rapids-SP CPU w/ 16-Core Chiplets/Tiles [Rumor]

It appears that Intel was originally planning 60-core 4th Gen Xeon Sapphire Rapids-SP in order to compete with AMD’s Epyc Milan and Genoa lineups, but unsatisfactory yields forced the chipmaker to reduce the core count to 56. This info was shared by @YuuKi_Ans on Twitter. According to the well-reputed source on Intel processors, the company was supposedly working on 16-core tiles (chiplets) with one core disabled, resulting in a four-tile part packing a total of 60-cores.

Now, due to lower-than-expected 10nm ESF (7) yields, Intel has been forced to rely on 15-core tiles (one core disabled each die), leading to a maximum of 56-cores with four-tiled parts. This is a bit strange as I don’t see how a single core would have made much of a difference in terms of yields. The company could have simply disabled two cores instead of one on each die and called it a day. It’s possible that the original plan was to enable all 15-cores on the tiles, resulting in a total core count of 60 for the top-end Sapphire Rapids SKU. Cutting out a core from the tile design seems like a much less efficient approach than simply disabling it in the final implementation.

Areej Syed

Processors, PC gaming, and the past. I have been writing about computer hardware for over seven years with more than 5000 published articles. Started off during engineering college and haven't stopped since. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Divinity, Torment, Baldur's Gate and so much more... Contact: areejs12@hardwaretimes.com.
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