Intel Xeon Processor E5 v4 Family Debut: Dual E5-2697 v4 With 72 Threads Tested

There is a large family of Xeon E5 v4 series processors inbound, with various core counts, cache configurations, clocks and TDPs. Though all of the parts feature the same core technology (Broadwell-EP), three different physical dies are used to produce the processor line-up featured here.

The Intel Xeon E5-2600 v4 product family features high core count (HCC), medium core count (MCC), and low core count (LCC) products, that target different market segments. As we’ve mentioned, all of the chips are produced using Intel’s 14nm process node, but because of the varied configurations, transistor counts and die sizes are quite dissimilar between models. HCC Xeon E5-2600 v4 series processors feature 7.2B transistors, with an 18.1mm x 25.2mm die. MCC parts have roughly 4.7B transistors and a 16.2mm x 18.9mm die. And LCC Xeon E5-2600 v4 series processors are comprised of roughly 3.2B transistors, with a 16.2 x 15.2mm die. Frequencies and cache configurations are all over the map.

Clocks and cache configurations vary greatly as well. Workstation processors and lower-core count server chips top out in the 3GHz – 3.6GHz range, while the higher-core count products typically fall in the 2GHz – 2.6GHz range. TDPs range all the way from 55W to 160W depending on the application as well.

In the end, the new Intel Xeon E5-2600 v4 family of processors offer more – and more advanced – cores than the previous generation, with better overall performance in a similar power envelope. The v4 series Xeons also introduce new security and virtualization features, additional memory bandwidth, improved AVX performance, and hardware controlled power management, among a host of other architectural improvements. Intel’s Xeon products in the mission-critical server and professional workstation markets have excelled for a number of years, and the Intel Xeon E5-2600 v4 family series should carry on that tradition.