Intel Preps W890 Chipset For Next-Gen HEDT CPUs, Likely To Be Granite Rapids-X With Lots of P-Cores

Intel is reportedly going to introduce a new W890 chipset which will feature support for its next-gen HEDT CPUs platform.

In a few weeks, Intel will be refreshing its Xeon Workstation family which will feature Sapphire Rapids CPUs with up to 60 cores and 120 threads. These chips will be a soft refresh of the Xeon Workstation family targeted at workstations and will be supported on existing W790 platforms.

It is now being reported that Intel is already working on its next HEDT chips which will feature the next-generation HEDT family. The rumor comes from @Jaykihn0 who states that the W890 PCH is designed for the next-generation HEDT family.

Updating with some new SKUs.

Reminder that I meant to say H870 in the original post, not H810.

These new SKUs also take the range of these chipsets beyond the range of Arrow Lake -S. pic.twitter.com/eLlZQIJJIA

— Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) August 16, 2024

Yes.

— Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) August 16, 2024

The information doesn't confirm if these are pure HEDT offerings or Xeon workstation parts since Intel's HEDT platforms use the "X" series branding while the workstation parts which are also semi-HEDT chips, use the "Xeon" branding. Xeon CPUs for workstations do feature "X" SKUs which are sold in the DIY channels so it is likely that HEDT is referring to the next-gen Workstation part. AMD also devised a similar strategy for its Threadripper Pro series but they recently offered Non-Pro and HEDT-specific SKUs in the Zen 4 "7000" lineup.

Moving onward, the Intel W890 chipset is also likely going to introduce a new socket type, most likely the LGA 4710 variant which is designed for the mainstream Granite Rapids-SP "Xeon 6700P" chips while the LGA 7529 socket should be confined to the high-end data center solutions such as the Granite Rapids "Xeon 6900P" series. That is if the next-gen lineup for HEDT is based on Granite Rapids which makes sense since it is unlikely that we will see Emerald Rapids as the next-gen as it was mostly a server-only solution.

Yes, although there’s plenty of upcoming Xeon chips, so that’s a wide blanket.I don’t think the W890 specification is well-developed yet, so I won’t get into it now. But, for instance, I doubt that 26+34 is gonna be the final specification.

— Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) August 16, 2024

According to the W880 chipset data, it looks to be equivalent to the W880 chipset which is designed for the entry-level Xeon workstation family but the leaker states that the information is not "Well-Developed" yet and is likely to be much better once the actual final specifications are announced.

Also, we know that Intel's Granite Rapids-SP CPUs will feature up to 86 cores which will mark a 43% increase in core and thread count versus the Sapphire Rapids-SP chips along with a higher amount of cache. The core count will still be lower than the Threadripper 7000 CPUs which offer up to 96 core counts but the next-gen Intel HEDT family will utilize upgraded Redwood Cove cores which are the same cores used on Meteor Lake but driven by higher power limits.

Considering that Intel's Sapphire Rapids Refresh lineup is expected to launch soon, we should expect the next-gen Intel HEDT family and W890 motherboards to be announced in 2025 so it should be a while before we see the chips in action.