Intel Next-Gen Sapphire Rapids ‘Fishhawk Falls’ HEDT Platform To Be Rebranded As Xeon Workstation: Up To 56 Cores, 350W TDP & 8-Channel DDR5 Ready

The first details of Intel's next-generation Sapphire Rapids HEDT platform codenamed 'Fishhawk Falls' have been leaked by Moore's Law is Dead. According to the information, Intel is going to re-badge the lineup as the Xeon Workstation family instead of the Core-X family.

It has been almost two years since the launch of Intel's last HEDT platform, the Cascade Lake-X. The lineup failed to compete against AMD's Ryzen Threadripper 2000 lineup and the blue team realized it was time to go back to the drawing board. So what's the result of all the brainstorming that went in those two years of no HEDT launches, well, Intel has decided to radically change the branding of their HEDT CPU platforms and Sapphire Rapids seems to be a fresh new start.

According to the alleged information revealed by Moore's Law is Dead, the Intel Sapphire Rapids HEDT platform is going to be branded as the Xeon Workstation family and not the Core-X family. This means that HEDT CPUs will launch under the 'Prosumer' branding rather than specifically aim at the consumer segment. The CPUs will be designed with Enthusiasts, Content Creators, & Mega-tasking users that are the prime market for Intel and AMD HEDT platforms.

Intel Sapphire Rapids - Xeon Workstation Platform

Intel is also planning to further segmentize its Sapphire Rapids HEDT platform into two categories, a workstation, and a mainstream workstation platform. The standard workstation platform will be succeeding Ice Lake-W Xeon CPUs that launched back in 2020. These will feature up to 56 Golden Cove cores and as low as 12 cores that will boost beyond 4 GHz. It will be a diverse portfolio with lots of SKUs with TDPs scaling up to 350W for the flagship models. There are also various on-chip accelerators present on the Sapphire Rapids HEDT CPUs but it is not known whether these will be functional or disabled in the final models. As for pricing, they are expected between $3000-$5000 which puts it in the ultra-premium performance category.

In the SKU dissection posted below, there are at least four SKUs & three different platform configs starting with the Sapphire Rapids-SP XCC dies which will be aimed at the server market. These will be the full-blown parts and won't be a part of the Xeon Workstation HEDT family. Then there's the Sapphire Rapids-112L XCC dies which will offer up to 112 PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes and will be featured under the Workstation platform. This is followed with the Sapphire Rapids-SP MCC config which will offer medium core counts but with 8-Channel memory support while the entry-level  SPR-MSWS mainstream workstation platform will feature the same MCC die but with 4-channel DDR5 memory support.

Intel is going to offer at least four different SKU configurations in its Sapphire Rapids Xeon Workstation HEDT lineup. (Image Credits: MLID)The Fishhawk Falls platform is going to be a robust and next-gen ecosystem comprising 8-Channel DDR5-4400 (1DPC) / DDR5-4800 (2DPC) and up to 112 PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes. The motherboards look a lot like workstation tier products rather than server boards and will feature one socket.

Intel Sapphire Rapids - Xeon Mainstream Workstation Platform

The second platform is designed to be a more mainstream workstation offering and will replace the Cascade Lake-X and Xeon-W Skylake-X (Xeon W-3175X) chips. The core counts for the Sapphire Rapids CPUs within this lineup are expected to be around 28-36 cores (Golden Cove architecture) and will rock much higher clock speeds of up to 4.5 - 5.0 GHz. The CPUs will end up with around 300W TDPs however the top model can end up around 400W based on its final clock configuration.

As for the platform, there's 8-Channel (non-ECC) and 4-Channel (EEC) DDR5 support & the number of PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes will drop to 64. The prices will be largely similar to the previous Core-X CPUs so we can expect around $500-$3000 US for these chips. Earlier rumors have suggested that the Fishhawk HEDT family will be based around the W790/C790 PCH but given that there are at least two platforms in the works, there might be a much higher-end PCH SKU. As for launch, Intel has been rumored to launch their next-gen HEDT CPU family in Q3 2022, around the same time as the 13th Generation Raptor Lake CPU lineup.

AMD on the other hand seems to have delayed or even canceled their Threadripper lineup based on the Chagall/Chagall 3D design. Intel is following AMD's route in branding their HEDT platform for Workstation users under the Xeon brand. AMD also did the same with their Threadripper Pro family. AMD will have the option to reschedule their Zen 3 Threadripper CPUs against Intel's Xeon workstation parts in mid of 2022 or delay the family entirely in favor of next-gen Zen 4 parts. AMD has so far been the undisputed king of the HEDT and Workstation CPU space with its Threadripper lineup but with Sapphire Rapids, Intel really has a chance to catch up and even retake some of the workstation/HEDT market share back from them. That will be something we have to wait and see.