10nm Intel Sapphire Rapids Xeon details emerge: dual-socket 96 core Xeon on the cards with PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 support but is it enough to take on 5nm AMD EPYC Genoa?

A leaked slide from an Intel Russia presentation detailing новые продукты (new products), shows the 10nm Sapphire Rapids platform on track to take on AMD's EPYC Milan and EPYC Genoa products in 2021. Tipster @momomo_us, who spotted the leak, offered insights about what we can expect from Sapphire Rapids.

Single and dual-socket Sapphire Rapids configuration are expected to out at 48 cores per socket, with a TDP under 200W. On the other hand, four to eight-socket designs with significantly high power draw will feature up to 32 cores per socket. Sapphire Rapids will be built with the LGA 4677 socket in mind and will feature a number of new technology additions.

The new architecture will support PCIe 5.0, as well as 8-channel DDR5 memory, meaning significantly higher bandwidth. However, EPYC Genoa will likely play spoiler. AMD's 2021 server offering will be built on the new SP5 platform and also offer support for PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 memory.

In addition, it'll be built on the 5nm process, meaning double the transistor density of Sapphire Lake parts, which translates to lower power draw, and potentially lower TCO (total cost of ownership).