Intel Ivy Bridge–based Xeon microprocessors
Ivy Bridge Xeon families span single-socket to eight-socket servers.
Intel’s Ivy Bridge–based Xeon line succeeded the Sandy Bridge-E series, sharing the same CPU core design found in the Ivy Bridge desktop processors but packaged for workstations and servers in LGA 2011, LGA 1356, and LGA 2011-1 sockets. The lineup splits into five families: Ivy Bridge-E, Ivy Bridge-EP, Ivy Bridge-EX, Ivy Bridge-EN, and Gladden.
Ivy Bridge-E chips use the LGA 2011 socket and were sold as Core i7 Extreme Edition and high-end desktop (HEDT) processors, though they closely resemble Xeon E5 models. Ivy Bridge-EP also fits the LGA 2011 socket and targets high-end servers and workstations with Xeon E5 branding, supporting up to four-socket motherboards. Ivy Bridge-EX introduced the LGA 2011-1 socket, offering up to 15 cores and support for up to eight sockets. Ivy Bridge-EN uses the smaller LGA 1356 socket for low-end and dual-processor servers, appearing in certain Xeon E5 and Pentium models. A separate Ivy Bridge Xeon variant with an LGA 1155 socket lacks an integrated GPU but is otherwise nearly identical to desktop counterparts, despite being branded as Xeon. Gladden comes in a BGA 1284 package for embedded applications.
Key features include dual memory controllers on Ivy Bridge-EP and Ivy Bridge-EX. Ivy Bridge-EP tops out at 12 cores with 30 MB of L3 cache, while Ivy Bridge-EX reaches 15 cores and 37.5 MB of L3 cache. Thermal design power ranges from 50 W to 155 W. Each socket supports up to eight DIMMs of DDR3-1866 memory, though speed drops with more DIMMs per channel. No integrated GPU is present. Ivy Bridge-EP added hardware support for interrupt virtualization, branded as APICv.
The basic Ivy Bridge-E is a single-socket processor sold as Core i7-49xx, available only in a six-core S1 stepping, with some versions limited to four active cores. Ivy Bridge-EP comes in three die flavors: a 12-core die arranged as three four-core columns with 30 MB L3 cache in two banks, linked by three interconnect rings; a 10-core die with two five-core columns, 25 MB L3 cache in one bank, and two rings; and a six-core die with two three-core columns, 15 MB L3 cache in one bank, and two rings. Ivy Bridge-EX uses a 15-core die organized into three five-core columns, with three interconnect rings connecting two columns per ring and a separate L3 cache per column.
Quick Facts
- Created
- September 10, 2013
- Cores
- up to 15 (physical) / up to 30 (logical)
- Transistors
- up to 4.3B 22 nm (S1)
- Cpuid
- 0306Exh
- Code
- 80633, 80636, 80634, 80635
- Dmi-Slowest
- 5.00
- Microarch
- Ivy Bridge
- Predecessor
- Sandy Bridge-E
- Successor
- Haswell-E
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Ivy Bridge–based Xeon lineup includes several distinct families tailored to different market segments. Ivy Bridge-E uses the LGA 2011 socket and was branded as Core i7 Extreme Edition and Core i7 high-end desktop (HEDT) processors, despite sharing many similarities with Xeon E5 models. Ivy Bridge-EP also uses LGA 2011 for Xeon E5 models aimed at high-end servers and workstations, supporting up to four socket motherboards. Ivy Bridge-EX introduces the LGA 2011-1 socket and features up to 15 cores, supporting up to eight socket motherboards. Ivy Bridge-EN uses the smaller LGA 1356 socket for low-end and dual-processor servers on certain Xeon E5 and Pentium branded models. Gladden was offered in BGA 1284 package for embedded applications. A separate Ivy Bridge Xeon with LGA 1155 socket was mostly identical to its desktop counterparts apart from the missing integrated GPU.
Reader's Guide
The Ivy Bridge–based Xeon microprocessors represent a significant expansion of Intel's server and workstation offerings, with die configurations ranging from six to fifteen cores. The three die 'flavors' of Ivy Bridge-EP—up to 12 cores, up to 10 cores, and up to six cores—each have distinct core column arrangements and L3 cache layouts, linked by either two or three rings of interconnects. Ivy Bridge-EX scales to eight sockets with a 15-core die organized into three columns of five cores. These processors introduced hardware support for interrupt virtualization (APICv) on Ivy Bridge-EP. Memory support varies by family: up to 12 DIMMs per socket for Ivy Bridge-E and EP, up to 24 DIMMs for EX, up to six DIMMs for EN, and up to eight DIMMs for the LGA 1155 Xeon. The absence of an integrated GPU across all families except the LGA 1155 models (which lacked it despite the branding) and the inclusion of features like Hyper-threading, Turbo Boost, AES-NI, and Smart Cache in most models defined their capability for enterprise workloads.
Did You Know?
- Ivy Bridge-EX supports up to eight socket motherboards and features up to 15 cores.
- The largest Ivy Bridge-EP die is organized as three four-core columns with up to 30 MB L3 cache.
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