Intel intros Rocket Lake Xeon E-2300 server CPUs

by Mark Tyson on 9 September 2021, 10:11

Tags: Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)

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Intel has released the Rocket Lake Xeon E-2300 server CPUs, aimed at single-socket entry-level server, and small business applications. This is the first update to the Xeon E-2X00 series since the Coffee Lake E-2200 family was introduced in Q2 2019, and requires the new Socket H5 (LGA 1200). The most important changes delivered with alongside this Rocket Lake silicon are improvements to the memory subsystem and support for PCIe 4.0 devices.

There are ten new Intel Xeon E-2300 processors now available. The range spans the: E2314 with 4C/4T, with base/boost clocks of 2.8/4.5GHz, 8GB of Smart Cache and 65W TDP (sans iGPU); up to the E2388G with 8C/16T, with base/boost clocks of 3.2/5.1GHz, 16GB of Smart Cache and 95W TDP (with Gen12 iGPU). It is good to see Intel eschew the 2C parts with this generation, but a top-end SKU with more cores seems to be ruled out by the harvestable RKL silicon.

Click to zoom table

Intel trumpets that the new Xeon E-2300 processors deliver up to 17 per cent faster performance to the prior generation thanks to the underlying RKL architecture tweaks, mostly the Cypress Cove core design. As, mentioned above, the new lineup delivers processors with up to 5.1GHz clock speeds. Memory performance is enhanced too, with the Rocket Lake Xeons supporting up to 128GB of dual-channel ECC DDR4 RAM, with speed up to 3200MT/s.

Click to zoom diagram

Moving onto enhanced expandability with the new platform, and Xeon E-2300 server CPUs provide up to 44 PCIe lanes, with up to 20 lanes of PCIe 4.0. Peripheral connectivity shouldn't be a bind either, with support for up to 13 USB 3.2 ports – three of which can be 20Gb (USB 3.2 gen 2x2) ports. The previous Xeon E-2200 platform was limited to 10Gb (USB 3.2 gen 2x1) at best.

Last but not least, for server folk, the new Rocket Lake Xeon E-2300 server CPUs feature a full range of modern manageability and security features such as Intel SGX (Software Guard eXtensions) support.

If you are interested in these new server processors, they should be available soon via your usual vendor, and you can check the MSRPs in the specs table above.

HEXUS reviewed the Intel Xeon Platinum 8380 Processor 2P (Ice Lake) in April this year, a higher end SKU family based on the Sunny Cove architecture, with up to 40 cores, large caches, up to 2 CPU sockets, 8 DIMM channels, and more.



HEXUS Forums :: 6 Comments

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Base level one of these in a new HP Microserver would be nice..
It always annoys me that the Xeon E line is referred to as server processors. They're just as much used for entry-level workstations, if not more. They're basically Core i processors with a few features less fused off.

Before I upgraded to a Ryzen processor I might've been all over these. Luckily, AMD doesn't artifically segment their processors quite as much as Intel.
Yeah I moved to AMD when I dropped from mATX to iTX for my home server, from an i7-3770s to a Ryzen 3400G, x570 will give me a better upgrade path as well..
I was initially interested but these CPUs have only 20 user-accessible PCIe v4 lanes when 32 are needed - 16 for GPU, 8 for second card, and 2x 4 for two NVME drives for 32 in total.

The low total RAM capacity is troubling.
Amount of lanes seem low on both sides of the fence though, also in most consumer platforms, unless you really spit in.