Several important announcements were made at the Intel Vision 2024 event in Phoenix, Arizona. Still, perhaps one that’s flying under the radar is their sixth-generation Xeon platform built on the Intel 3 node, aptly named Intel Xeon 6. It will be launched in two main variants in the future, including the Performance (P) core series based on Intel’s Sierra Forest architecture and the Efficiency (E) core variant based on Granite Rapids. Intel’s current branding revolves around a number of key terms, including Xeon “scalable,” which is used for the current fifth-generation Xeon scalable platform (Emerald Rapids).
With Intel Xeon 6 (Granite Rapids) set to launch in the second half of 2024 as part of Intel’s enterprise AI ecosystem, Intel is “evolving” the naming structure and branding of its Xeon series, ditching “scalable” from nomenclature and select Stick with codenames.
Last year, we covered Intel’s Granite Rapids and Sierra Forest extensively. For more information about Granite Rapids and Sierra Forest, here are some of our key pieces:
Intel debuted its Xeon Scalable brand of processors in 2017 with the launch of the Xeon Platinum 8100 series, which is built on its Skylake microarchitecture. Looking forward to 2024, Intel hopes to build an ecosystem suitable for current technology needs in key areas such as data centers, edge computing and PCs. Intel is laying the foundation for what it calls “Intel Enterprise Artificial Intelligence.” The new brand of Intel Xeon 6 platform uses a number of frameworks and accelerators and works closely with partners, ISVs and GSIs to create a large open ecosystem that will become key to the enterprise market as we grow.
Starting with Intel Xeon 6 processors, Intel has adopted newer, simpler nomenclature for Granite Rapids and Sierra Forest. Intel’s Sierra Forest Xeon 6 processors will launch in the second quarter of 2024 and include chips with 288 E-cores. This will be the first generation of products under this new branding, which is designed to make it easier for customers to navigate between models. Please note that high-performance (P) core Intel Xeon 6 processors built on Granite Rapids will be available at a later date.
However, the key parts, including Xeon naming for enterprise, workstation, server and data center, have not changed. The second part is the codename, highlighted with a 6, marking it as the sixth generation Intel Xeon platform.
As mentioned earlier, Intel’s Xeon 6 processors based on the Sierra Forest architecture will be launched in the second quarter of 2024, while the Granite Rapids Xeon 6 platform is expected to be launched in the second half of 2024.