Intel has announced a slew of new products aimed at professionals and enthusiasts that need the most possible performance, in the form of a new Xeon W-series platform and new Core X-series processors. Both of the new lineups feature Intel Deep Learning Boost, promising up to 2.2 times the performance for AI inference, as well Intel Turbo Boost Max 3.0.
The new Xeon W-2200 platform is comprised of eight new processors featuring up to 18 cores and 36 threads, and turbo speeds of up to 4.8GHz. The new processors can be used in configurable form factors and features such as ECC and vPro for creative professionals. Intel says the new platform accelerates 3D rendering up to 10% faster in Autodesk Revit with V-Ray, and twice as fast as a three-year-old workstation. Prices for the new processors range from $294 to $1,333.
As for the new Core X-series family for enthusiasts and professionals, there are a total of four processors, with up to 18 cores and 36 threads and maximum turbo speeds of 4.8GHz. The products come with an Intel Performance Maximizer feature that allows users to dynamically tune the processor speeds.
The biggest news, though, is in the pricing. Whereas last year"s top-end processor was priced at a whopping $1,979, this year"s Core i9-10980XE costs just $979, less than half. It still has 18 cores, 36 threads, a base clock of 3.0GHz and a maximum boost speed of 4.8GHz, along with 24.75MB of cache.
There"s no Core i7 this time around, but the cheapest Core i9, which has 10 cores, 20 threads, and a maximum boost speed of 4.7GHz costs just $590, a whole dollar more than last year"s cheapest Core i7.
Intel has also announced new pricing schemes for its 9th-generation Core S-series processors without integrated graphics. For anyone who has trouble keeping up with Intel"s naming scheme, the Core S-series refers to mainstream desktop processors without integrated graphics in them.