Two days ago, Intel demonstrated a 28-Core desktop CPU running at 5Ghz during a press conference at Computex, currently held in Taipei, Taiwan. The CPU got a lot of media attention also because the chip giant promised the processor would become available by the end of this year. However, the company didn't mention the fairly extreme cooling it used during the demonstration.
(Fridge-sized cooler for 28-core Intel CPU - Credits Hardware.info)
The CPU that Intel showcased was reportedly an unlocked 28-Core Xeon Platinum Skylake-SP-processor which achieved the amazing score of 7334 point in CineBench. The achievement was very impressive but it seems the chip is not ready for regular consumer PCs, as the Dutch website Hardware.info discovered.
When reporters of the website arrived at the demonstration room of Gigabyte, there was some commotion, the website writes. Intel placed demonstration systems featuring the 28-Core chip in booths of both Gigabyte and Asus, but removed them a few hours later without any explanation. The Hardware.info guys had the impression that Intel didn't want to give much attention to the 28-Core demo anymore.
They mention that a possible reason could be a photo that appeared on the internet which reveals how Intel cooled the 28-Core CPU. The photo shows a fridge sized cooler, that's very different from usual CPU cooling systems.
Hardware.info states it's not entirely surprised that the CPU needs so much cooling if the demonstrated CPU is indeed a 28-core Xeon Platinum Skylake-SP-processor. In a review, the CPU running at 2.5 GHz already had a TDP of 205 watt. The power usage and thus heat production when the chip runs at 5 Ghz will therefore be much higher. Hardware.info therefore wonders whether Intel will either use a lower clock speed when the actual desktop comes on the market, or that it will use a different architecture.
(Cooler for 32-core AMD Threadripper 2 CPU - Credits Hardware.info)
Interestingly, an image of the cooler solution AMD used during their demonstration of the 32-Core Threadripper 2 CPU shows difference in cooling that is required by the 28-Core Intel CPU.
