Intel Clearwater Forest Xeon CPU Package Pictured; First Intel 18A Chip With High Expectations Of Breakthrough

Intel's Lunar Lake SoCs are categorized as the "savior" for the firm's reputation, but the real focus is on the "Clearwater Forest" Xeon CPUs made with 18A.

Intel Has Huge Hopes With Its Next-Gen 18A Process For Comeback, Set To Feature In Upcoming Architectures Such As Clearwater Forest Xeon CPUs

Intel has been experiencing a rough patch when it comes to adoption from the markets, especially since they have seen setbacks in the foundry department with some of its previous-gen nodes.

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However, the IFS has significantly hyped up the quality and expectations surrounding its 18A process. As a follow-up post to its Q2 earnings, Intel heavily emphasized the importance of its next-gen 18A process for the sustainability of the firm. While the Clearwater Forest isn't the only architecture to be based upon the upcoming process, it's surely going to be the more important one.

Intel presented initial images of a Clearwater Forest chip at the Enterprise Tech event in Portland, Oregon, and while we didn't see details about potential specifications and core configuration, from previous information, we are aware that the lineup is set to feature up to 288 cores based on the Darkmont Core architecture, and will be using Foveros Direct and other advanced packaging technologies, making this particular server CPU lineup a gamechanger for Intel and the markets.

Looking at the Clearwater Forest "Xeon" CPU package, we can see a stacked PCB which should be compatible with LGA 7529 sockets. This chip has three compute tiles with 96 E-Cores on each and two IO tiles on the outskirts. The chip feels massive and should be offer disruptive performance in the cloud data center segment.

Given that Intel has completely shifted its focus towards the 18A process, it will certainly prove to be a pivotal moment in the firm's history, given that the IFS has bet everything on its revival.

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