10nm Intel Ice Lake-SP CPU, IPC could increase by up to 50%

After first 10nm notebook solutions "Ice Lake-U" unveiled at Computex 2019Intel is working to bring the new production process to the high end of the consumer segment and above all to the server market with the next generation of Xeon processors. According to the latest rumors, the first Xeons at 10nm Ice Lake (SP) are expected to debut in the summer (Q3 2020 to be precise), ensuring configurations up to 38 cores per socket, 8-channel DDR4 support and 64 PCI-E gen 4 lines. Certainly very interesting features, but how will the new performance architecture behave?

According to some benchmarks recently published on the Sandra platform database, Ice Lake-SP processors will offer a marked increase in CPI (Instructions Per Cycle), apparently quantifiable in over 50%.

Going into more detail, the tests in question were performed with an unpublished Intel 14 core / 28 thread processor, an engineering sample that is not currently recognized even by the Sandra software. The CPU is equipped with 17.5 MB of L2 cache and 21 MB of L3 cache, the maximum detected frequency is equal to 2 GHz while there are no references to any Boost frequency.

As can be seen from the screenshots above, the new Intel processor scores 360 GOPS in the CPU Arithmetic test, a remarkable score considering the clock frequency. If this last value was confirmed (2 GHz) we would be faced with a marked increase in the IPC compared to the current generation of Xeon processors.

For comparison, a dual-socket system with Xeon Gold 6132 (14c / 28t at 3.2 GHz) stands at around 750 GOPS (link in the STREET); doing two rudimentary calculations, the score per core per clock of the new Intel Xeon is more than 50% higher (+ 54% for accuracy) compared to the current Xeon Gold 6132:

• Intel ES Ice Lake-SP 14 c / 28t 2 GHz: 360 (GOPS) / 14 (core) / 2 (GHz) = 12.85
• 2x Intel Xeon Gold 6132 14c / 28t 3.2 GHz: 750 (GOPS) / 28 (core) / 3.2 (GHz) = 8.37

Waiting for more detailed and above all reliable tests in terms of technical specifications, it seems clear that the new Intel architecture will bring a clear leap forward in terms of performance; remember that at the base of the 10nm Ice Lake-SP processors there will be Intel Sunny Cove architecture, the same that the company will also use for the Core series consumer desktop models.