Intel Xeon Clearwater Forest with 288 Cores on Intel 18A at Hot Chips 2025
15 days ago
- #HotChips2025
- #Intel
- #Processor
- Intel unveiled its next-gen 288-core processor, Clearwater Forest, at Hot Chips 2025.
- Built on Intel 18A process with 3D packaging technology, it offers more cache, faster E-cores, and higher memory bandwidth than Sierra Forest.
- Clearwater Forest is part of Intel's many-core focused design, using efficiency cores (E-cores) for power-efficient multi-threaded workloads.
- The processor features a 9-wide decode (up from 6-wide in Sierra Forest) and improved branch prediction.
- Back-end improvements include an out-of-order execution engine capable of dispatching 8 ops per clock (up from 5) and retiring 16 ops per clock (2x Sierra).
- Clearwater Forest has 26 execution ports, double the integer and vector execution throughput, and 1.5x load address generation.
- Memory bandwidth is enhanced with a doubled L2 miss buffer (128 misses) and 400GB/sec L2 cache bandwidth.
- The design uses 3D die stacking (Foveros Direct 3D) with CPU chiplets on base dies, built on Intel 3 process.
- Each two-socket system supports 12 channels of DDR5-8000 memory, totaling 1300GB/sec bandwidth.
- Intel claims a 17% IPC uplift on SPECint 2017 and a 3.5x perf-per-watt gain over Sierra Forest in datacenter racks.