Intel’s next-gen Sapphire Rapids Xeon CPUs may have HBM memory on their packages

Intel’s Sapphire Rapids Xeon processors will contain an innovative new feature, on-die HBM memory. @InstLatX64 has confirmed this on Twitter, who has found official Intel documentation that details HBM specific references within Sapphire Rapids’ memory controller documentation. 

At this time, the exact purpose of this HBM memory is unknown, and it is also unknown whether or not Intel plans to ship all Sapphire Rapids Xeon processors with HBM memory. HBM memory may only be added to specific models, acting as a high-end feature for top tier Xeon CPU models. 

At this time, Intel’s HBM add-on for Sapphire Rapids is expected to act as a Last-Level-Cache (LLC). Given the low latency nature of on-package HBM memory, the addition of HBM memory could be used to accelerate latency-sensitive workloads on Sapphire Rapids. This could be very useful for some Xeon users, especially if used in conjunction with Optane memory. 

Intel’s utilisation of HBM memory within their next-generation Xeon processors will be a big deal for many workloads. That said, it remains to be seen how much HBM memory will impact Intel’s Xeon Scalable platforms’ overall performance. That said, Intel still needs to launch their Ice Lake Xeon lineup before they can deliver Sapphire Rapids, which means that it will be a while before Sapphire Rapids officially launches. 

Will Intel’s revamped memory hierarchy be that Intel needs to revitalise its Xeon lineup? We will have to wait and see. 

  
You can join the discussion on Sapphire Rapids and its planned use of HBM memory on the OC3D Forums. 

#Intel released the 42nd edition of the ISA Extensions Reference with Linear Address Masking (LAM) and HBM in #SapphireRapids
(use this link, the one on the official SDM page is still points to the 41th)https://t.co/hIH8Tx3CWa pic.twitter.com/OPvkN4vw0F

— InstLatX64 (@InstLatX64) December 28, 2020