What are Xeon Platinum CPUs

Intel Xeon Platinum processors are designed for high-end servers and data centers that require maximum performance, reliability and scalability. These processors are ideal for companies dealing with intensive workloads such as large databases, real-time data analytics, High Performance Computing (HPC), and artificial intelligence (AI).

Intel Xeon Platinum processors are designed to work in systems with 4 or more sockets, where Gold, Silver and Bronze are limited to 2 sockets. This makes Xeon Platinum CPUs ideal for highly scalable and mission-critical applications, where maximum redundancy, uptime and computing power are required.

Companies that need Intel Xeon Platinum processors are often large corporations or research institutions that work with complex calculations or large amounts of data. Examples of this are:

• Financial institutions: For real-time fraud analysis and risk management.
• Scientific Research Centers: To perform simulations and modeling in areas such as climate science and bioinformatics.
• Tech companies: For developing and training AI models and processing large data sets.
• Media and entertainment companies: For rendering high-definition videos and graphic effects.

With their advanced features and support for massive amounts of memory and fast I/O options, Xeon Platinum processors are the backbone of the IT infrastructure that supports the most demanding applications.

Socket-type per generation

Intel Xeon Gold 1st generation: LGA-3647
Intel Xeon Gold 2nd generation: LGA-3647
Intel Xeon Gold 3rd generation: LGA4189

What is the difference between the generations

The difference between the first three generations of Intel Xeon Platinum processors can be summarized based on their architecture, performance and technological improvements:

The first generation Xeon Platinum (8100 series, Skylake-SP): The generation launched in 2017 was based on the Skylake microarchitecture. These processors offered a significant performance increase over previous generations and introduced new technologies such as Intel AVX-512 vector instructions, which was a major leap forward for workloads that heavily use floating-point calculations.

• Proc: 14 nm process
• TDP: 105W - 205W
• Mem: 768 GiB hexa-channel DDR4-2133 ECC memory.
  M versions support 1.5 TiB per socket
• I/O: 48 PCIe Gen 3.0 lanes
• ISA: Everything up to AVX-512 (SMM, FPU, NX, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AES, AVX, FMA3, AVX2, AVX-512-F/CD/BW / DQ/VL)
• Features: Hyper-Threading, Turbo Boost, Speed ​​Shift, vPro, VT-x, TSX, TXT, Volume Management Device (VMD), Mode-based Execute Control (MBE), Key Protection Technology (KPT) and Platform Trust Technology (PTT).

The second generation Xeon Platinum (8200 series, Cascade Lake-SP): The second generation, released in 2019, built on the Skylake-SP architecture and brought optimizations and improvements to security features. Cascade Lake-SP introduced support for Optane DC persistent memory, providing a new class of memory and storage capabilities, and enhanced security measures such as Intel SGX and Side Channel Mitigation technologies.

• Proc: 14 nm process
• TDP: 105W - 205W
• Mem: 1 TiB hexa-channel DDR4-2933 ECC memory
  M versions support 2 TiB per socket
  L versions support 4.5 TiB per socket
• I/O: 48 PCIe Gen 3.0 lanes
• ISA: Everything up to AVX-512 (SMM, FPU, NX, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AES, AVX, FMA3, AVX2, AVX-512-F/CD/BW / DQ/VL/VNNI)
• Features: Hyper-Threading, Turbo Boost, Speed ​​Shift, vPro, VT-x, TSX, TXT, Volume Management Device (VMD), Mode-based Execute Control (MBE), Key Protection Technology (KPT) and Platform Trust Technology (PTT).

The third generation Xeon Platinum (8300 series, Ice Lake-SP): The third generation, launched in 2021, made the transition to the Ice Lake microarchitecture, manufactured on the 10nm process. This generation brought significant improvements in performance per watt, supporting up to 40 cores per processor, and offering up to 8 memory channels at speeds up to 3200MT/s.

• Supported number of cores: 8 to 40
• Highest turbo frequency: 3.7 GHz, base frequency: 2.8 GHz
• Number of CPU sockets supported: maximum 2
• Intel® Ultra Path Interconnect (UPI) and Intel® UPI speed: 3 UPI at 11.2GT/s
• Support for highest memory speed (DDR4): 3200MT/s
• Highest memory capacity per socket: 6TB
• Support for: Intel® Optane™ Persistent Memory 200 Series Module, PCI Express Gen 4 (64 lanes per socket), Turbo Boost Technology 2.0, Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel®HT Technology), Deep Learning Boost (Intel® DL Boost) with vector neural network instructions (VNNI), Speed ​​Select technology (Intel® SST) with support for Performance Profile 2.0 (Intel® SST-PP)
• Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions 512 (Intel®AVX-512): 2 FMA

Packaging

NTS ships Xeon Platinum CPUs in custom trays that fit 4. These are stackable and provide optimal protection so that the CPU cannot move in the packaging during transport.

41711024 - Tray Intel Xeon Scalable Processors (1x4) Gold/Silver CPU

The trays are also available separately in our webshop. To do this, follow the link in the product number above.

What should be taken into account when purchasing

The CPU has a code next to the clock speed, as shown in the image below:

• Make sure this code matches when using multiple CPUs. Different versions of processors may have minute differences that affect performance. Using the same code from the same product name ensures that the CPUs are identical.

• Before you upgrade your CPU, check the wattage of the power supply, especially when installing a 2nd processor or in combination with a powerful video card. View the power consumption per component in the product specifications. Your power supply must be able to handle the total with some margin.

• Thermal paste is required for installation of Xeon Platinum processors. Ask your account manager to add this to the order, or add it in the webshop.

• If you are looking for a CPU upgrade for a server, keep in mind that an extra processor or faster processor may contain more cores and therefore a software license extension may be required, such as Microsoft Server core licenses. More information can be found on the Windows Server Core Calculator site.

• Before installing the Xeon Platinum processors, the CPU cooling must be removed. Before replacing, check which format this should be. This depends on the cooling, but this is often a Philips head 2.