英特尔推出了其新的Xeon可伸缩服务器处理器阵容，押注其客户将选择其内置的人工智能和安全加速度，而不是AMD的EYPC CPU。
Intel launched its new generation of Xeon Scalable CPUs, code-named Ice Lake—its first line of server processors based on the 10-nm node that has been plagued by prolonged delays. Intel is trying to counter AMD's Epyc CPUs with the new Xeon CPUs, which have huge generational upgrades over its previous server chip line, called Cascade Lake, which was based on 14-nm.
Navin Shenoy, VP and GM of Intel's data center business, said the chips promise 46% more performance on average than its predecessors for data center workloads. All of the largest cloud industry players plan to roll out services based on the chips, which integrate up to 40 cores—up from 28 cores in Cascade Lake—and new accelerators for AI and cryptography.
ICE湖CPU最多包含40个核心，60 MB共享缓存和64条PCIE Gen 4，具有不同的频率和功率信封。该阵容还带来了记忆能力和带宽与喀斯喀特湖的改善。芯片增加了16个DDR4 DRAM插槽，使它们可以访问更多内存，这是数据中心中的性能瓶颈之一。
Intel said it will supply the new chips to more than 50 unique OEMs, including Cisco, Lenovo, Supermicro, Dell and HPE, to be used in more than 250 server platforms. The company also said its new Xeon CPUs will be used by 15 global leaders in the network infrastructure market and 20 research labs and service providers in the high-performance computing (HPC) space.
宣布了一个月后AMD推出了我ts latest generation of Epyc CPUs for the data center, code named Milan, touting them as the fastest server processors in the world.
为了反对AMD，英特尔专注于为其芯片带来更大的灵活性。领导英特尔服务器处理器和内存组的丽莎·斯佩尔曼（Lisa Spelman）表示，它为冰湖CPU量身定制，以加快从云到网络到边缘的各种工作量（图。1）. The chips have more levers that its customers can pull to improve performance. There are new instructions and other built-in features to handle AI, 5G, and cryptography in hardware.
“这不可能在更关键的时刻出现，” Cisco的云和计算部门产品管理副总裁DD Dasgupta是英特尔OEM主要OEM客户之一。
英特尔在中央处理芯片中占有约90％的市场份额，以用于数据中心，多年来一直在其开发10 nm节点的延误。在今年年初，它任命Pat Gelsinger为首席执行官，重新启动其战略，并开始从AMD和TSMC的Process Technology中重新获得其在芯片设计中的优势。
As part of his strategy, which he announced last month along with $20 billion of investment in its fabs, he aims to revive Intel's famed “tick-tock” development model. For decades, Intel uncoupled improvements in its process technology from its microarchitectures. Every "tick" represented a shrinking of its process node, and each "tock" overhauled its chip architecture.
The Silicon Valley giant toiled for years to improve the production process to the point where it would be economically viable to make its most advanced server chips on the 10-nm node. The failure has forced it behind its top rival TSMC, the world's largest contract chip manufacturer. TSMC pulled ahead with its 7-nm technology node, with volume production starting in 2018.
这些延迟还为AMD开放了基于TSMC的7 nm节点推出新服务器处理器的大门，它认为它比英特尔的芯片更为先进。近年来，AMD的EPYC CPU一直在数据中心市场的Intel Xeon可伸缩CPU中撬起市场份额，到2020年底从1％增长到7％以上。
Intel is aiming to fight back against AMD with its latest generation of Xeon CPUs. The company has previously said that its 10-nm technology is on par with TSMC's 7-nm node.
Ice Lake的性能增长是缩小工艺节点（10-nm技术）的“ tick”的结果，也是新的CPU设计的“ Tock”。英特尔说，阳光明媚的湾核心每个时钟（IPC）的指令泵出20％，该指标比级联湖相比，影响CPU可以同时处理的数据量。
英特尔的新阳光湾核心增加了更大的存储器，以便在处理过程中访问数据。冰湖芯片集成了48 kb的L1 Cache（CPU的主要记忆库），比上一代增长50％。英特尔将次级L2缓存扩大了25％至1.25 MB，并且也将所有核心共享的L3缓存提高到1.5 MB
The server chip at the top of the performance stack, the Xeon Platinum 8380, packs 40 cores that can run up to 80 processes at the same time and adds 60 MB of shared cache, up from less than 40 MB in its previous generation, the 28-core Xeon 8280. The cores are clocked at base speeds of 2.4 GHz and a boost frequency of 3.4 GHz per core and 3.0 GHz for all cores.
服务器处理器在最大负载下最多可消耗275 W的功率，高达上一代英特尔的Cascade Lake CPU的205 W，这意味着它还释放了更多的热量。
I/O也有很大的进步。英特尔说，这些芯片从附加到PCIE GEN 4的64车道的每个插座上的补充存储，网络和服务器加速器卡中更快地吸引信息，从喀斯喀特湖服务器芯片中的PCIE Gen 3的48车道升至（图2）. AMD said that its Milan CPUs contain up to 128 PCIe Gen 4 lanes for a single socket.
The PCIe Gen 4 lanes double the data-transfer speeds of the PCIe Gen 3 slots in the previous generation of Cascade Lake CPUs, giving its customers up to 32 Gbps for 16 lanes. Intel said the Ice Lake CPUs can also communicate with each other over the same server more rapidly than ever thanks to recent improvements in its proprietary Ultra Path Interconnect (UPI) link.
此外,英特尔降低the price tags on the new generation of chips. The Xeon Platinum 8380 costs $8,099, compared to the starting price of $10,099 for the Xeon Platinum 8280.
Intel said the chips also close the gap in memory bandwidth with AMD. The chips integrate 8x DDR4 memory controllers clocked at 3.2 GHz, boosting memory bandwidth by more than 30% over its predecessors. The server chips can be supplemented with 16x DDR4 DRAM memory cards with 256 GB of capacity each, resulting in system memory of up to 4 TB, up from 1 TB.
Intel said its customers can use a combination of DDR4 DRAM and its Optane 3D XPoint to increase the capacity up to 6 TB. The chips are designed for single- and dual-socket servers.
The Ice Lake CPUs represent one of Intel's largest generational leaps in performance in years. But industry analysts warn that AMD has pulled ahead with a "clean sweep" in general-purpose performance with its Milan server CPUs, which combine up to 64 cores with 256 MB of shared cache, while beating out Intel’s Cascade Lake CPUs on common workloads in the data center.
Intel, trying to differentiate the Ice Lake CPUs from rivals, said the chips run faster than AMD's Milan CPUs when it comes to workloads that can take advantage of its onboard AI and other special-purpose processing features. These features come in the form of AVX-512 and other new instructions only found in the Ice Lake CPUs for 5G, cloud, and other workloads (Fig. 3).
英特尔说，ICE Lake是市场上唯一具有集成的AI加速器的服务器CPU，称为Deep Learning Boost，它是在其Cascade Lake CPU中引入的，并减少了CPU执行AI琐事所需的指令数量。根据英特尔的说法，硬件和软件升级可提高AI推断对Cascade Lake系列的最高74％的性能。
英特尔说，它使用集成的AI指令将AI工作负载的性能高出1.5倍，而AMD最先进的EPYC CPU。英特尔说，冰湖的性能是NVIDIA的旗舰A100 GPU的1.3倍。这提高了CPU在本地处理AI的能力，而不是将其卸载到数据中心中的GPU，FPGA或其他加速器。
Additionally, Intel is trying to stand out from rivals by building in safeguards to block hackers from accessing secrets in the data center or maliciously altering data in the server's memory.
Intel incorporated its Software Guard Extensions (SGX) technology in Ice Lake, reinforcing the server'sinternal defenses. The SGX technology turns parts of the server's memory into secure enclaves that isolate data and other secrets in the CPU. Data in these zones is inaccessible to software and applications in the CPU. That helps block attacks that attempt to steal data by hijacking the operating system (OS), BIOS, or other software to pry into the server's memory.
The flagship and other high-end chips in the family reserve up to 512 GB of memory for secure enclaves. AMD's chips use a rival "confidential computing" technology to Intel's SGX (图4）。
Intel upgraded the underlying architecture of the server chips to run cryptography, reducing the penalty on performance that tends to come with workloads heavy on encryption. The firm is bringing other features to the fold, including what it calls "total memory encryption" technology, which can be used to encrypt the entire memory space to protect against physical attacks.
The chips, according to Intel, are also ideal for workloads in enormous cloud data centers. The company is trying to regain its goodwill with Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and other cloud giants that are increasingly looking to replace general-purpose chips largely designed by Intel for their servers. They are instead investing in internally designed chips based on Arm's CPUs.
To further differentiate itself, Intel is packaging its central processing chips with its memory, networking, and other chips to bring better performance and cost efficiencies to data centers. Intel is complementing its Xeon Scalable CPUs with its wide range of other server chips, such as its Optane memory, NAND storage, Ethernet networking ASICs, and programmable FPGAs.
Shenoy说，这是其独特的优势之一，并提高了与竞争对手的竞争力，其产品集更有限，或者无法将它们紧密地捆绑在一起。英特尔（Intel
“Intel is uniquely positioned with the architecture, design, and manufacturing to deliver the breadth of intelligent silicon and solutions our customers demand,” he said in a statement.
The Ice Lake lineup spans more than 40 SKUs: a third are in the top performance bracket (8 to 40 cores clocked at up to 3.6 GHz with 140 to 270 W), 10 are targeted at scalable performance (8 to 32 cores at base clock frequencies of 2.2 to 2.8 GHz at 105 to 205 W), and other SKUs that are specifically designed for the cloud, networking, and other server workloads.
Intel continues to dial in production of its Ice Lake CPUs. The semiconductor giant said it rolled out more than 200,000 of the server chips to customers in the first quarter of 2021.
