Intel's latest Xeon CPUs take the fight to AMD Genoa

Intel has announced the availability of its all-new 4th Gen Xeon Scalable processors, which are less formally known among tech enthusiasts and businesses as Sapphire Rapids. 

Specifically, Sapphire Rapids HBM (the company’s CPU Max Series) and Ponte Vecchio (Intel’s Data Center GPU Max Series).

Intel says the launch will improve performance, efficiency, and security for data center and supercomputer customers globally, serving as a response to listening to its customers and partners over the components’ previous generations.

Intel Sapphire Rapids and Ponte Vecchio

“Intel’s 4th Gen Xeon and the Max Series product family deliver what customers truly want - leadership performance and reliability within a secure environment for their real-world requirements - driving faster time to value and powering their pace of innovation," noted Intel executive VP, Sandra Rivera.

The move to update its chips is expected to have an exponential impact on Intel users across the globe, with more than 100 million Xeons now in use in installations like on-prem servers, as-a-service business models, networking, and cloud computing.

Among the headline figures are various increases to performance and reductions in power usage, leading the 4th Gen Xeon chips to be more environmentally friendly than before which is of growing concern to businesses who face increasing pressure from government agencies to cut emissions. 

Intel isn’t just helping its users to minimize their carbon footprint, having made some adjustments of its own. In a press release, the company promises to manufacture its 4th Gen Xeon chips using at least 90% renewable electricity on sites with water reclamation facilities.

This news heats up the market as it comes just two months after AMD announced details of its latest 4th Gen EPYC processors (codenamed Genoa), also intended for data center usage, and also claiming to be more efficient per unit of power.

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