Intel Alder Lake-X HEDT processors get preliminary support in AIDA64

AIDA64 recently added preliminary support for a brand new family of Intel processors known as Alder Lake-X which appears to be targeting the HEDT platform.

Intel Alder Lake-X, HEDT processor family, gets preliminary support in AIDA64 software

It’s been a while since Intel updated its HEDT platform. The latest 10th Gen Cascade Lake-X line was launched in 2019. Meanwhile, AMD offered its latest Zen 3 architecture on its Threadripper Pro 5000 line. Intel is expected to unveil its new HEDT line this year which will be part of the Sapphire family. Rapids-X or Sapphire Rapids-AP. These processors are rumored to be very similar in design to the Sapphire Rapids-SP server chips which offer up to 56 cores and 112 threads.

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AIDA64 has added preliminary support for Intel’s upcoming Alder Lake-X HEDT processors.

But now there’s a whole new family that’s popped up and it’s Alder Lake-X. For desktops, Intel currently has Alder Lake-S on the LGA 1700 socket platform. Given that this line doesn’t have Sapphire Rapids in its name but Alder Lake, we might see a new iteration of the Alder Lake matrix for the HEDT segment since the “X” in the last name is for enthusiast X-Series rigs. The existing Alder Lake-S ‘C0’ die has the max 8+8 configuration, offering 16 cores and 32 threads. Intel could offer the chip in a single-chip or multi-chip configuration, but supported by the high-end desktop platform.

This segmentation of Sapphire Rapids-X and Alder Lake-X will look familiar to the Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X families which both co-existed on the same HEDT platforms, but the former had more cores since it was derived from the server Xeons. family while the latter was derived from the traditional desktop computer family. They were also supported by the same socket and platform, so Intel’s next HEDT family will be supported by the next generation HEDT platform known as Fishhawk Falls.

As for the platform, there is 8-channel (non-ECC) and 4-channel (EEC) DDR5 support and the number of PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes will drop to 64. Pricing will be broadly similar to Core-X CPUs previous ones. so we can expect around US$500 to US$3000 for these chips. From what we get, the new Intel HEDT family will look like the following:

• Sapphire Rapids-AP (Xeon Class Workstation Replacement)
• Sapphire Rapids-X (Upscale Enthusiast Class Replacement)
• Alder Lake-X (Mainstream Enthusiast class replacement)

Earlier rumors suggested that the Fishhawk HEDT family would be based on the W790/C790 PCH, but given that there are at least two platforms in the works, there could be a much higher end PCH SKU. As for the launch, Intel is said to have launched its next-gen HEDT processor family in Q3 2022, around the same time as the 13th-gen Raptor Lake line of processors. The platform will work for both desktops and enthusiasts.

Intel HEDT processor families: