Intel Unveils Next-Gen Clearwater Forest Xeon CPU: A 288-Core Powerhouse with a 17% IPC Boost

At the Hot Chips 2025 conference, Intel provided a detailed look into its next-generation Xeon E-core (Efficiency Core) processor, codenamed "Clearwater Forest," which is slated for mass production next year. This new processor is set to redefine data center performance by integrating Intel's cutting-edge 18A process technology and Foveros Direct 3D advanced packaging, enabling a single socket to house up to a staggering 288 CPU cores.

Clearwater Forest is built on a comprehensive modular design. At its heart are 12 E-core CPU chiplets, each manufactured on the advanced Intel 18A process. These are complemented by three base tiles on the Intel 3 process, which house the Last-Level Cache (LLC) and memory controllers. Flanking these are two I/O chiplets carried over from the previous generation, built on the Intel 7 process, ensuring robust connectivity.

Ensuring a smooth upgrade path, the Clearwater Forest processor is socket-compatible with its predecessor, the Xeon 6 E-core "Sierra Forest." It introduces significant memory enhancements, supporting up to 12 channels of DDR5 RDIMM memory. The supported frequency sees a notable jump from 6400MT/s in the previous generation to 8000MT/s, although support for MRDIMM was not mentioned.

Diving deeper into the CPU chiplets, each of the 12 chiplets contains 24 cores. Intel has organized these cores into clusters of four, with each cluster sharing a 4MB L2 cache. This design provides each core with an impressive 200GB/s of L2 bandwidth, facilitating rapid data access and processing.

One of the most significant advancements in Clearwater Forest is a 17% improvement in Instructions Per Clock (IPC) compared to Sierra Forest. This substantial performance gain is attributed to key architectural upgrades, including a wider 3x3 decode front-end, more accurate branch prediction, a wider Out-of-Order (OoO) engine and execution engine, and an optimized core memory subsystem.

Intel also showcased a dual-socket server reference design based on "Clearwater Forest-AP." This system is a true behemoth, featuring a total of 576 cores and 1152MB of LLC cache. It boasts up to 1300GB/s of memory read bandwidth, a 3TB memory capacity, and offers 192 PCIe 5.0 lanes, 64 of which can be configured for CXL. In conclusion, Clearwater Forest represents a monumental step forward for Intel's data center offerings, combining a massive core count with significant architectural improvements and next-generation manufacturing technologies to deliver unparalleled efficiency and performance.


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