The Intel Xeon 6960P is a server/workstation processor with 72 cores, launched in September 2024. It is part of the Xeon 6 lineup, using the Granite Rapids-AP architecture with Socket 7529. Thanks to Intel Hyper-Threading the core-count is effectively doubled, to 144 threads. To further increase overall system performance, up to two Xeon 6960P CPUs can link up in a multi-processor (SMP) configuration. Xeon 6960P has 432 MB of L3 cache and operates at 2.7 GHz by default, but can boost up to 3.9 GHz, depending on the workload. Intel is building the Xeon 6960P on a 5 nm production process, the transistor count is unknown. The multiplier is locked on Xeon 6960P, which limits its overclocking capabilities.
With a TDP of 500 W, the Xeon 6960P is extremely power hungry, which means you need top-notch cooling. Intel’s processor supports DDR5 memory with a twelve-channel interface. The highest officially supported memory speed is 6400 MT/s, but with overclocking (and the right memory modules) you can go even higher. ECC memory is supported, too, which is an important capability for mission-critical systems, to avoid data corruption. For communication with other components in the system, Xeon 6960P uses a PCI-Express Gen 5 connection. This processor lacks integrated graphics, you might need a graphics card.
Hardware virtualization is available on the Xeon 6960P, which greatly improves virtual machine performance. Additionally, IOMMU virtualization (PCI passthrough) is supported, so that guest virtual machines may directly use host hardware. Programs using Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) will run on this processor, boosting performance for calculation-heavy applications. Besides AVX, Intel has added support for the newer AVX2 and AVX-512 instructions, too.