Core Galore

Intel Xeon E5-2600 v4

We have the official launch details on Broadwell-EP, the next ‘tick’ from Intel

The wait is over and we can now release official information about the next “tick” from Intel. Since this release has just been made official, you are probably wondering what’s new. Our customers have already been asking some questions, especially regarding upgrades - and we’ve done our best to cover them on this page.

For now, we’ll be focusing on the server side of things, but the information should also be helpful if you plan on building a workstation with Broadwell-EP inside.

Intel Xeon E5-2600 v4 Release Date

Under the Broadwell-EP family name, the Intel Xeon E5-2600 v4 processor was released on March 31st, 2016. There are about 22 different processor SKUs available under 7 different categories. We've been working hard to update our product line and the logic on our configurators so you can start building systems with these processors on launch day.

Smaller node, More cores

A follow-on to Haswell-EP, Broadwell-EP features a new 14nm process technology that has enabled Intel to increase the core count while still utilizing the same power envelope as its predecessor. Broadwell-EP processors will be the last to arrive as Intel phases out their platform and move to the new Purley Platform for Skylake and Cannonlake processors.

The SKU list is varied, With CPU cores ranging from 4 all the way up to the aforementioned 22. There is 2.5MB of L3 cache included in each core, which adds up to a range of 5-55mb of total cache. Clocks range from 1.7Ghz all the way to 5.1Ghz.

Changes from Haswell-EP

As you can see in the image above (and throughout this article), the biggest changes in Broadwell-EP are the improvements in core count and clock speed. Intel says that on average, customers should expect a 19% performance increase over the previous generation.

Intel has also improved on resource monitoring and allocation capabilities targeted towards software-defined environments like data centers and virtualization deployments. Many of our customers in this space have historically been enthusiastic about E5 processors refreshes, and this time is no different. Intel has made several improvements in regards to orchestration capablities, data prioritization and cache monitoring designed to improve service quality and utilization. These improvements can be significant enough that some customers may choose to upgrade, even from Haswell-EP. If you're interested in learning about these specific improvements, Intel has provided us with this document that you can download here.

Socket Compatibility

Broadwell-EP is compatible with the existing R3 socket on the Grantley platform. This has been a common question from our customers - As mentioned earlier, many of our customers see improvements that are significant enough to justify an upgrade from the last refresh, so this should be good news for those who plan to upgrade. It’s important to note, however, that support may still require BIOS and firmware updates, so you should still check with your vendor (or Thinkmate rep) to be sure.

Memory Configurations

On the memory front, Broadwell-EP includes support for up to 2400 MT/s with DDR4 for greater I/O throughput. According to Intel, Broadwell-EP brings about a 15% increase in bandwidth.

Here are the memory configurations:

Systems featuring Intel Xeon E5-2600 v4

We are happy to announce that we are the first in the industry to ship Thinkmate-branded Servers and Workstations featuring Broadwell-EP processors, as well as Supermicro-branded servers and workstations from our Supermicro Store. Explore below: