It was not long since Intel announced Xeon Scalable (spring 2017). However, the progress does not stay still and the planning of the chip maker today concerns the processors that will follow Skylake-SP CPU as well as solutions that one day will replace Xeon Phi based on MIC architecture.

As competition with AMD get tougher and another confrontation with the ARM in Windows-notebooks segment is looming, Intel decided to optimise its assortment of semiconductor production. Among the significant projects that are being terminated turned out to be Knights Hill – the development of Xeon Phi processors based on third-generation MIC architecture. One of the reasons behind this decision was the loss of the main developer, Avinash Sodani, who left the company and joined Cavium. The release of Xeon Phi/Knights Mill was planned earlier this year. Instead, Intel demonstrated prototypes and postponed the possible release date until the end of the year, but then cancelled the project entirely.

On the other hand, the better fate awaits Intel Xeon Scalable (Skylake-SP, 14nm). The CPUs are supplied to server system engineers and corporate clients in “platinum”, “gold”, “silver”, and “bronze” editions with core count between 4 and 28. One upgrade is already being planned for the next year: Intel will re-release the processors using an improved 14nm process. Additionally, the appearance of Xeon Scalable Performance is expected in 2019-20. It will become a new flagman using the 10nm process and possibly having up to 36 cores and 8 memory channels.

Finally, Intel Ice Age (for general purpose) and Knights Run (for HPC segment) are likely to be released in 2021. Nothing else is known about these projects yet, however, you can be sure that Bits and PCs, London IT support, will always have the latest news for you.