Intel Xeon W Processors Likely Brains And Brawn Behind New iMac Pro, Other Top Workstations

All of the new Xeon W processors are built on Intel’s 14nm+ processor technology, support Intel Mesh architecture, slot into LGA 2066 motherboards and come with 48 PCIe 3.0 lanes. You can also expect full support for Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0, quad-channel DDR4-2666 ECC memory, and AVX-512 acceleration.

Entry-level processors in the family (W-2123 and W-2125) feature 4 cores that are capable of executing 8 threads. From there, the line bulks up (as the price increases) with 6-, 8-, 10-, 14- and finally 18-core SKUs. The range-topping, 18-core Xeon W-2195 is capable of executing 36 threads and includes 24.75MB of L3 cache. With the exception of the two quad-core parts (which have a TDP of 120 watts), all other members of the Xeon W family are rated at 140 watts.

Pricing for the processor range from $294 for the W-2123 up to $1,440 for the W-2155. Unfortunately, Intel hasn’t provided pricing for the 14-core W-2175 or the aforementioned W-2195. But if you have to ask…

We already know of at least one manufacturer that will be using these new chips, and that is Apple. Apple announced its all-new iMac Pro earlier this year at WWDC in an effort to provide more power to video editors and content creators. The company confirmed that the iMac Pro would be available with 8-, 10- and 18-core Xeon processors.

Given that the iMac Pro will start at $4,999, you can see that the $1,113 price of the 8-core W-2145 processor takes up a good chunk of that price. However, we don’t even want to take a guess at how much a fully loaded system with an 18-core processor will cost. Would could be pushing into the $10,000 territory easily.

Besides Apple, you can also expect to see these new Xeon W processors show up in PC OEMs systems, with the usual suspects being Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo (among others).