Intel Xeon 6 processors were unveiled at AMD’s annual Computex event as the company shared details of its artificial intelligence strategy. Like Nvidia, Asus and other attendees at the event, the chipmaker also showcased its AI-driven portfolio including new hardware, data center innovations and AI accelerators to power servers with AI handling capabilities. Namely, the company also shared details about its Lunar Lake platform and explained how the architecture will empower computers with artificial intelligence. Intel also revealed pricing for its Gaudi 2 and Gaudi 3 AI accelerators.
Intel shares details on Lunar Lake architecture
To power the next wave of AI PCs, Intel announced its Lunar Lake CPU last month as the successor to the Meteor Lake chipset. During the ongoing Computex event, the chipmaker shared more details about its architecture. There’s a new system-on-a-chip design that the company claims triples the size and offers more than four times the performance of its AI accelerator. It is also claimed to deliver up to 14 percent faster CPU performance, 50 percent better graphics performance and up to 60 percent better battery efficiency compared to its predecessor.
Lunar Lake processors feature a fourth-generation neural processing unit (NPU) capable of processing up to 48 tera-operations-per-second (TOPS) of artificial intelligence performance. The new GPU design, codenamed Battlemage, significantly improves gaming and graphics performance and offers up to 67 TOPS performance in AI content creation.
Other notable changes include integrated 16 of the 32 GB of LPDDR5X memory into the system instead of a separate memory card. This means that there is no possibility to connect more RAM.
Intel Xeon 6 processors launched
Just six months after launching the 5th generation Intel Xeon processors, the tech giant is now introducing the first Xeon 6 chipsets including the Xeon 6 E-core and Xeon 6 P-core. Also known as Efficient-core, Intel Xeon 6 E-core is designed to deliver AI-focused performance with lower power consumption. P-core, on the other hand, offers better results. These processors are intended for data centers to power server-based AI features and AI computing for devices.
Intel Xeon 6 E-core processors are available for purchase now, and the company will launch Xeon 6 P-core processors in the third quarter of this year. Prices have not been announced.
Intel Gaudi 2, Gaudi 3 AI Accelerator Kit Price Revealed
Intel also shared pricing details for its Gaudi 2 and Gaudi 3 AI accelerator kits, which the company has positioned as alternatives to Nvidia’s H100 chips. Aimed at users with heavy AI workflows, these AI accelerators purportedly provide performance improvements for training and inference tasks for major open source AI models.
According to the company, Intel Gaudi 3 is a cluster of 8,192 accelerators that offer up to 40 percent faster training time for AI models compared to H100 GPU clusters. The company found the numbers during testing to train the Llama-2 70B AI model. Intel says inference is also faster with its accelerators.
The standard AI kit with eight Intel Gaudi 2 accelerators and a Universal Base Board (UBB) will be offered to system vendors for $65,000 (roughly Rs. 54,33,100). The Intel Gaudi 3 with similar specs will be available for $125,000 (roughly Rs. 10,448,200).
