Intel Launches Xeon W
Intel has unveiled a range of new processors for workstations, with the Intel Xeon W-3400 and W-2400 models sitting at the top of the lineup. Both of these chips are based on the ‘Skylake-SP’ architecture and feature up to 56 cores, with 112 PCIe 5.0 lanes and support for up to 4channel DDR4-2933 memory.
The Xeon W-3400 is the higher-end of the two, with a TDP of 160W and a price tag of $2999. It is a fully unlocked chip, meaning that it can be overclocked by users who know what they’re doing. The W-2400, on the other hand, has a TDP of just 130W and is priced at $2099. It is not unlocked, so users will have to stick to the stock clock speeds.
Both of these chips are aimed at high-end workstations, such as those used for video editing, 3D rendering, or other CPU-intensive tasks. They will offer a significant performance boost over previous generation processors, as well as more features and I/O connectors.
The release of these two chips follows Intel’s launch of its ‘Skylake-SP’ lineup of server processors, which includes the Xeon Scalable Processor family. These chips are also based on the ‘Skylake-SP’ architecture, but are targeted at a different market.
The ‘Skylake-SP’ architecture is a significant update from the previous ‘Haswell-EP’ architecture, with a number of new features and improvements. The most notable of these is the addition of AVX-512 instructions, which provide a significant performance boost for certain types of workloads.
The Intel Xeon W-3400 and W-2400 are both available now.
