Tyan 2nd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Support with Optane DCPMM

With the 2nd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor launch that we covered in-depth, Intel has added more cores and higher clock speeds along with hardware security mitigations. Tyan is taking advantage of the launch by issuing BIOS and UEFI firmware updates for its platforms to allow them to use the new chips, formerly codenamed “Cascade Lake.” All told, performance in the mainstream volume CPUs is up significantly. You can read more about the SKUs and our value analysis on why the CPU side is so important. In platforms that can support it, Tyan is also adding support for the new Intel Optane DC Persistent Memory Modules (DCPMM) which offer a new class of storage for its customers.

Tyan Launches 2nd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Support with Optane DCPMM

Tyan has a focused line of server products for the LGA3647 socket ecosystem. Some of the company’s differentiation also comes in the form of cost optimization. Tyan, like many in the industry, has been busy validating their existing platforms for the new 2nd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors and Intel’s new Optane DCPMM. Key benefits from the new Intel launch are:

1. More cores in the mainstream part of the SKU stack at the same price points
2. Almost all SKUs in the stack have minor clock speed bumps and thus performance improvements accompanying the core count increases
3. Similar clock-for-clock IPC performance as the first generation
4. Memory speeds and capacities have increased, now to a maximum of DDR4-2933 speeds and 256GB LRDIMM support
5. Intel Optane DC Persistent Memory Module support (DCPMM) for persistent, high-capacity, high-performance modules in DDR4 sockets
6. New hardware security mitigations and fixes for the side channel/ speculative execution families of vulnerabilities, e.g. Spectre/ Meltdown and L1TF
7. Intel DL Boost using the new VNNI instruction to allow faster AI inferencing without GPUs

While we see second generation Intel Xeon Scalable support, there are a number of platforms that will not see Intel DCPMM support. Some of Tyan’s base motherboards such as the Tempest CX 7100, Tempest CX 7103, and Tempest CX 7105 only have six DIMMs per channel and thus cannot support this generation of Intel Optane DCPMM.

On STH, we have a handful of Tyan Intel Xeon Scalable platforms reviewed. These will receive 2nd generation Intel Xeon Scalable support. Here are some examples including two of their five motherboard lines and one of their five GPU server lines:

• Tyan Thunder HX GA88-B5631 Server Review 4x GPU in 1U
• Tyan Tempest CX S7106 Motherboard Review
• Tyan Tempest HX S7100 Dual Xeon Scalable Workstation Motherboard Review

You can read more about their 2nd generation Intel Xeon Scalable platforms here.