Intel Corp (INTC)

[DavidA2]

Morrowinder: Skylake-SP doesn't seem impressive anymore.

AMD Ryzen 9 ThreadRipper-
http://www.techspot.com/news/69331-amd-ryzen-9-threadripper-cpu-lineup-leaks-capped.html

1998X: 16 cores, 32 threads, 3.5GHz Base/3.9GHz Turbo, 44 PCIe lanes, QC memory channels, 155W TDP.

Compare that to Ryzen 7-

1800X: 8 cores, 16 threads, 3.6GHz Base/4.0GHz Turbo, 24 PCIe lanes, DC memory channels, 95W TDP.



First, Skylake-X is in trouble. Broadwell-E has 25% more cores than Ryzen 7. ThreadRipper has 33% more cores than Skylake-X.

More importantly, it has 2x the cores, 83% more PCIe lanes, 2x memory channels at 63% more TDP, while sacrificing mere 100MHz. This bodes extremely well for Naples, their server product.

https://www.servethehome.com/amd-epyc-new-details-on-the-emerging-server-platform/

Naples versus Skylake-SP:
-All SKUs have same I/O, reliability, memory, security, and integrated chipset. Skylake-SP limits features based on SKU
-Naples has 33% more memory bandwidth(8 vs 6 channels), meaning 33% more memory capacity as well
-Naples has 33% more PCIe lanes as well
-Naples has 14% more cores at the top end
-Based on ThreadRipper, it likely has higher clock speeds. At 180W, it might reach 2.8-3GHz. That 10-20% higher clock speeds will negate whatever IPC advantages Skylake has over Zen.

The market I see Zen not making a big change is mobile. Intel has much more experience in low power design and architecture. It's not about TDP, but about power management. Their ill-fated attempt at cracking the mobile market surely has helped their laptop platforms use less power.

Server markets transition to newer platforms very rapidly. Intel graph has shown for years that within 1.5 years, 100% of sales are based on the newest generation. AMD will impact Intel's datacenter revenues this year. So much for high single digit growth. Taking just a 5% marketshare will cancel Intel's growth. I think they will easily double or triple that in a year.

Too bad about 3D XPoint. If it was available in this year's Purley platform, it would have not only effectively replaced E7 MP platforms in terms of memory capacity, but provide a big advantage over Naples.

And by limiting it to only Core ix series chips, they neutered Optane Memory as well. Having it available on Pentium and Celeron would have made it an effective alternative over AMD systems having no such option and also dent Samsung's SSD growth.