Transforming Modern Workstations: Intel’s Xeon W-3500 and W-2500 Processors Lead the Way in AI and High Performance

Intel has just expanded its Xeon workstation processor family with the introduction of the new Intel Xeon W-3500 and Intel Xeon W-2500 desktop workstation processors. These processors, spearheaded by the Intel Xeon w9-3595X 60-core model, represent Intel’s most advanced offerings to date, delivering the compute power and reliability essential for professional creators, researchers, engineers, and software developers.

What are Xeon workstation processors?

These processors enhance performance by offloading tasks from CPU cores, particularly in analytics and storage scenarios. The latest workstation processors from Intel are crucial in expanding the company’s expert and mainstream product offerings, addressing the increasing compute demands of professional innovators.

“For nearly 20 years, the Intel architecture has been the workstation of choice for software developers, scientists, creatives and engineers – any improvement we make to the platform accelerates their ability to change the world. Today, we’re excited to roll out our latest workstation products, the Intel Xeon W-3500 and Intel Xeon W-2500 processors, to meet the demanding compute needs of professional innovators around the globe.”

–Roger Chandler, Intel vice president and general manager, Enthusiast PC and Workstation Solutions​, Client Computing Group

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Intel’s Legacy in Workstation Solutions

Intel’s Xeon W processor family, launched in August 2017 with the Skylake-based Xeon W-2100 series, is designed specifically for workstations and professional creators. Over the years, Intel has introduced Xeon W processors across several architectures, including Skylake (2017), Cascade Lake (2019), Comet Lake (2020), Rocket Lake (2021), Ice Lake (2021), and Sapphire Rapids (March 2023). In March 2023, Intel further refined the Xeon W lineup by introducing tiered models—w3, w5, w7, and w9—mirroring the Core i3, i5, i7, and i9 branding of desktop processors. These processors cater to a broad spectrum of demanding workloads, such as content creation, VFX, 3D rendering, complex CAD, and AI development. They are equipped with advanced platform technologies, support Intel vPro Enterprise Technology, and, in some models, offer error-correcting code (ECC) memory for enhanced data integrity.

The Xeon W-3500 and W-2500 processors expand Intel’s expert and mainstream workstation product stack, meeting the growing compute demands of professional innovators. With AI and machine learning demands soaring in recent years, these latest processors are engineered for AI development, while also offering the necessary platform expansion capabilities and the robust stability that professionals rely on for their workstation systems.

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Key Features of the Xeon W-3500 and W-2500 Processors

Expanded Compute Architecture and Performance Highlights

The new Xeon W-3500 and W-2500 processor families introduce substantial advancements in compute architecture. The Xeon W-3500 stack features up to 60 Performance-cores and 120 threads, marking an increase of four to eight cores over the previous W-3400 lineup and delivering up to 10% higher multithreaded performance generation-over-generation. The Xeon W-2500 stack, on the other hand, offers up to 26 Performance-cores and 52 threads, with two additional cores compared to the W-2400 series and up to 11% improved multithreaded performance generation-over-generation. Both processor families provide these enhancements while maintaining many of the existing price points, ensuring significant performance improvements without substantial cost increases.

Detailed Overview of Performance-Cores, Threads, and Multithreaded Performance Improvements

The Xeon W-3500 processors can optimize computational efficiency and handle demanding tasks with ease. In comparison, the Xeon W-2500 processors offer up to 26 Performance-cores and 52 threads, supporting substantial increases in processing capability. Both processor families showcase notable multithreaded performance gains—up to 10% for the W-3500 series and up to 11% for the W-2500 series—over their predecessors. These improvements are complemented by other features, such as a turbo frequency of up to 4.8 GHz, enhanced L3 cache sizes (up to 112.5 MB for the W-3500 and 48.75 MB for the W-2500), and robust memory support, including up to 4 TB of DDR5 RDIMM memory. Additionally, the processors support 3rd Generation Intel Deep Learning Boost and AVX-512, delivering up to 26% faster performance in AI and data science applications.

Performance Benefits

Intel’s latest Xeon W-3500 and W-2500 processors deliver exceptional performance across various domains:

• AI/Data Science: Achieve up to 26% faster linear algebra performance, enhancing the efficiency of data-intensive tasks and AI development.
• Engineering: Benefit from up to 59% faster Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulation, significantly accelerating engineering workflows and simulations.
• Media and Entertainment: Enjoy up to 2.4 times faster rendering, streamlining media production and enhancing visual effects processes.

Market Availability and Pricing

Conclusion

Intel’s introduction of the Xeon W-3500 and W-2500 processors marks a significant advancement in their workstation offerings, further establishing the Xeon W series as a leading solution for high-performance computing. The new processors enhance Intel’s portfolio by providing increased core counts and thread support, with up to 60 Performance-cores and 120 threads in the W-3500 and up to 26 Performance-cores and 52 threads in the W-2500. These enhancements translate into substantial performance gains, including up to 10% and 11% improvements in multithreaded performance generation-over-generation for the W-3500 and W-2500 families, respectively.

The Xeon W-3500 and W-2500 processors are designed to address the growing demands of professional innovators, particularly in fields such as AI development, data science, engineering, and media production. By delivering up to 26% faster performance in AI tasks, up to 59% faster FEA simulation, and up to 2.4 times quicker rendering, these processors significantly enhance productivity and efficiency across various industries.

As Intel continues to push the boundaries of workstation performance, the Xeon W-3500 and W-2500 processors offer a compelling combination of power, reliability, and affordability, ensuring that professionals can meet the most demanding computational challenges with confidence.

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