86-core Intel Granite Rapids-WS CPU spotted – A real Threadripper competitor!

It looks like Intel finally has an AMD Threadripper competitor for the workstation CPU market

An Intel Granite Rapids Workstation (GNR-WS) CPU has been spotted on the OpenBenchmarking.org website, with @momomo_us being the first to spot the new processor.

With 86 cores and 172 threads, this CPU has the chance to be a real competitor to AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper and Threadripper Pro 9000 series. This benchmark listing lists this processor as having a clock speed of 4.8 GHz. However, it is unclear whether this represents the peak clock speed, the all-core clock speed, or some other value. Regardless, this CPU will be a strong offering for the workstation CPU market if Intel launches it.

If these CPUs are like Intel’s currently available Granite Rapids Xeon CPUs, they should support MRDIMM memory. This could give Intel’s Granite Rapids-WS CPUs a key advantage over AMD Threadripper in memory-sensitive workloads. If this feature is supported, Granite Rapids-WS could be the go-to CPU choice for some workloads.

(Image from @momomo_us)

Based on the slide below, Intel’s 86-core workstation GPU is two of Intel’s Granite compute dies. Currently, it is unknown if Intel plans to create a workstation-grade CPU with three compute tiles and up to 128 CPU cores.

Intel has lost significant ground in the workstation CPU market. Today, AMD Threadripper CPUs are the preferred choice for high-core-count workstation CPUs. If Intel wants to regain the market, it needs a strong product. With Granite Ridge Workstation CPUs, Intel could set itself on a path to recovery. However, Intel will need to deliver strong performance levels and pricing to achieve this.

You can join the discussion on Intel’s 86-core Granite Rapids Workstation Leak on the OC3D Forums.