IBM launches rapid new server systems based on 7nm chip

IBM has unveiled the E1080 as the first of its chips for the Power10 series microprocessor.

The E1080 is the first commercial offering for the data-center grade Power10 platform, and is built on Samsung’s 7nm extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithographic process, as was announced at IBM’s Hot Chips conference in 2020.

Thanks to the new process, IBM is able to squeeze more cores, which helps the E1080 register a significant reduction in footprint and power draw, according to the company.

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"We are introducing with the E1080 a world record performance benchmark: the first system to hit 955,000 SAPS [on the SAP SD standard application benchmark] in an eight-socket system – considerably more than that of an x86 alternative architecture, 2x per socket [and] up to 4x per core more capability with the E1080," said Dylan Boday, IBM vice president for hybrid cloud, during a press briefing, reports The Register.

Position of power

The E1080 reportedly includes 15 physical cores, with eight-way symmetric multithreading (SMT) for a total of 120 threads per chip, and support for four sockets per board.

Boday added that the E1080 brings in a lot of scalability and flexibility, as the processor can actually scale to 240 cores “in the entire system itself."

The company backed its claims by presenting a case study on the processor in a real-world environment, where it claimed that 126 Intel-based Oracle database servers, were served by just three Power9-based E980s, which will further drop down to just two Power10 E1080s.

In terms of power consumption, using the E1080 will drop the 102kW of power draw to just 20kW.