Intel has confirmed that its next generation Clearwater Forest Xeon 6 Plus processors are now in full production, putting one of its most important 18A products closer to launch later this year. The chips are built for data center workloads, with a focus on 6G, Edge AI, and high efficiency server deployments.
Clearwater Forest is important because it brings several major Intel technologies into one server platform. The processors use Intel’s 18A process and combine RibbonFET, PowerVia, Foveros Direct 3D, and EMIB 2.5D packaging. Intel is also preparing software support through oneAPI 2026.0, which adds support for Clearwater Forest along with other upcoming Intel products such as Crescent Island, Nova Lake, and Diamond Rapids.
The new Xeon platform focuses on high core counts, large cache, and better power efficiency
The top Clearwater Forest chips will use Darkmont E cores and scale up to 288 cores across 12 compute chiplets. Intel is also giving the platform 576 MB of on package L3 cache and 288 MB of L2 cache. The processors can reach up to 450W TDP and will use an LGA 7529 socket with support for both single socket and dual socket server designs.
Memory and platform support are also getting a major upgrade. Clearwater Forest supports up to 12 channel DDR5 memory at speeds of up to 8000 MT/s, along with up to 6 UPI 2.0 links, up to 96 PCIe Gen 5 lanes, and up to 64 CXL 2.0 lanes.
| Feature | Clearwater Forest Xeon 6 Plus |
|---|---|
| Process node | Intel 18A |
| CPU cores | Up to 288 Darkmont E cores |
| Compute layout | Up to 12 compute chiplets |
| Cache | 576 MB L3 and 288 MB L2 |
| TDP | Up to 450W |
| Memory | Up to 12 channel DDR5 8000 MT/s |
| Socket | LGA 7529 |
| Target workloads | 6G, Edge AI, and data center efficiency |
Intel also shared performance data from Ericsson testing. A single Xeon 6990E Plus Clearwater Forest chip with 288 cores showed 38 percent lower runtime rack power, more than 60 percent better performance per watt, and 30 percent higher overall performance compared with a dual socket Xeon 6780E Sierra Forest setup with 288 cores.
The company is also preparing Diamond Rapids for future high performance server systems. Early details point to up to 256 P cores in initial versions, with denser variants expected to reach up to 512 cores and 16 channel memory. Dell has already announced its PowerEdge R9810 2U server platform with Diamond Rapids support, and that system is expected in 2027.
Discussion (0)
Be the first to comment.