- A new range of processors called Xeon 6 has been introduced. The first model in the series, the Xeon 6 E-core, is already available while the Xeon 6 P-core processors will be launched later in this quarter.
- Intel announced the pricing of its Gaudi 2 (priced at $65,000) and Gaudi 3 (priced at $125,000) accelerators which can be used to train GenAI models.
- The company also announced the Lunar Lake series of processors which will be used to power thin and light laptops. Despite all the improvements it comes with, it’s still very power efficient and uses the same power as the current Intel processors.
At Computex 2024, Intel announced a series of cutting-edge technology that has the potential to catapult it way ahead in the AI race.
Intel is one of the companies that’s working on multiple dimensions with AI, starting from semiconductors and networks to PCs and even data centers. Intel is everywhere – trying to bring the most efficient yet cost-effective solutions to its customers.
‘AI is driving one of the most consequential eras of innovation the industry has ever seen’ – Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger
Let’s take a look at the 3 big announcements it made at the event:
Intel Xeon 6 Processors
With AI, the way companies manage their data has significantly changed. There’s no room for outdated data centers anymore. Enterprises are looking for solutions that are cost-effective, sustainable, and offer more physical floor and rack space.
This is exactly what the new Xeon 6 processors aim to deliver. This entire line of processors is built to help with a wide range of use cases and workloads.
The first model in the Xeon 6 processor series is the Intel Xeon 6 E-core (code-named Sierra Forest) and it is already available for use. And the next ones, which are Xeon 6 P-cores (code-named Granite Rapids) are expected to launch in the later half of the quarter.
Here’s what makes Xeon 6 E-core a better choice:
- Low energy consumption
- Exceptional performance per watt
- Exceptional density advantages that allow for rack-level consolidation of 3-to-1.
This, in turn, helps customers get a rack-level performance gain of up to 4.2x and a performance per watt gain of up to 2.6x compared to the 2nd Gen Intel® Xeon processors.
AMD has also announced its version of AI laptop processors called the Ryzen AI 300 series. In fact, both AMD and Nvidia are planning to launch a dedicated AI gaming laptop which will include Copilot.
Intel Gaudi 2 and Gaudi 3 Accelerator Kits
Shortly after introducing Intel Gaudi accelerator kits, the company announced its pricing at Computex 2024.
A standard AI kit, which will include eight Intel Gaudi 2 accelerators with a universal baseboard (UBB), will be available to system providers at $65,000. The same kit with eight Intel Gaudi 3 accelerators will be available at $125,000.
Both of these kits are said to be cheaper than their competitors. To be precise, the Gaudi 2 kit is about 66% cheaper while the Gaudi 3 kit is approximately 33% cheaper.
Gaudi 3 Vs Nvidia H100
Nvidia H100 is the closest competitor of Gaudi 3 – both can be used to train GenAI models. Here are the outcomes when it was tested on the popular Llama2-70B model:
- Gaudi 3 in an 8,192-accelerator cluster had a 40% faster time-to-train compared to a Nvidia H100 GPU cluster of the same size.
- Gaudi 3 in a 64-accelerator cluster had a 15% faster time-to-train compared to a Nvidia H100 GPU cluster of the same size.
Overall, considering all cluster options, Gaudi 3 is expected to offer at least 2x faster inferencing compared to Nvidia H100 on all popular models such as Mistral 7B and Llama 70B.
Intel has also collaborated with 10 top global system providers to bring its accelerators to the market as soon as possible, including Asus, Dell, Quanta, Lenovo, and more.
Lunar Lake Processor Series
Intel’s latest processor series, which has been designed for thin and light laptops, is expected to launch later this year. The Lunar Lake series brings a ton of improvements over the current processors, such as:
- A 50% faster Intel Arc GPU based on its next-gen Arc Battlemage architecture
- 4x better NPU processing power
- 50% improvement in iGPU performance
- Smaller footprint and faster memory access
- 38% and 68% IPC gains in the new Skymont architecture and about 14% IPC gain for the Lion Cove P-cores
The best part is you can unlock all these extra benefits and the same power requirements that the current Intel Core Ultra chips use.
What’s more, it’s the first Intel chip series ever to go beyond the requirements for Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC standards. It can deliver 48 TOPS of performance and if you consider the CPU and iGPU, a total of 120 TOPS are delivered. For context, Microsoft only requires 40 NPU TOPS.
The Lunar Lake series of processors will be revolutionary for the company, not just by itself but also by paving the way for the upcoming Arrow Lake processors for the desktop.
The Computex 2024 has made it quite clear that AI is the next big tech for the upcoming decade. Giants like AMD, Nvidia, and Intel have pressed down the accelerator and we’re in for a thrilling AI ride for the next few years.
