Intel Sapphire Rapids HBM at Vision 2022

At Intel Vision 2022, we got to see the new Intel Sapphire Rapids HBM that combines four compute tiles via EMIB, as well as four HBM2E packages. We are simply posting a few photos so our readers can see what the later in 2022 server CPUs will look like.

Intel Sapphire Rapids HBM Package at Vision 2022

Here is the Intel Sapphire Rapids HBM package from the Intel Vision 2022 event. One can see the four HBM2E packages around the central four compute tiles.

Aside from the additional silicon, we can actually see something interesting in this photo when we compare it to the standard HBM-less Sapphire Rapids. The standard 4th Generation Intel Xeon Scalable part has small clusters of bumps on the package where the HBM2E dies cover in the HBM part. Also, we see an extended PCB on the HBM2E enabled SKU compared to the non-HBM part.

At the show, we confirmed that the Argonne National Lab Aurora >2 Exaflop supercomputer will use the Sapphire Rapids HBM parts. Initial feedback is that in memory bound workloads, this is having a large speedup without having to port codes from CPU to GPU.

We are going to have a bit more on Sapphire Rapids hopefully on video soon and so we have a potential cover image with a funny face and the new package.

We expect these to hit the market later in 2022.

Final Words

One fun part about seeing an actual chip versus just the drawings is that the HBM2E has been moved from a center alignment in the sketch and is further toward the perimeter in the actual package shown. Also the links between the P-core compute dies and the HBM seems to also have migrated towards the perimeter.

We will have more on Sapphire Rapids HBM later this year as we can share it. For those wondering, we also showed a few photos of the non-HBM version today including die shots of the compute tiles.

This is the first GB-class CPU we know about from Intel as we mentioned in Server CPUs Transitioning to the GB Onboard Era.

It is also the start of Raja Koduri’s 1000x in 5 years Zettascale computing plan we discussed Raja’s Chip Notes Lay Out Inte’s Path to Zettascale.

Just a few fun videos for you to check out.