(Image credit: Intel)

It looks like Intel is getting ready to launch a new branch of Granite Rapids processors designed to compete directly with AMD’s Ryzen 9000WX series parts based on Zen 5. Resident X poster Momomo_us found an openbenchmark.org listing featuring an 86-core CPU codenamed Granite Rapid-WS.

The only specs we have are the cores, threads, and clock speed, featuring the aforementioned 86 cores and 172 threads operating at up to 4.8GHz. But being based on the Granite Rapids architecture, it is very likely that this chip is a much higher clocking offshoot of the Xeon 6787P, which also boasts 86 cores across two compute tiles, but peaks at a 3.8GHz peak turbo clock speed.

At 86 cores, this new chip is approaching the core count of AMD’s current Threadripper flagship, the 9995WX with 96 Zen 5 cores. This SKU might not even be the flagship part since Granite Rapids can scale up to 128 cores. Only time will tell if this is the case — to reach 128 cores, Intel has to use three compute dies, whereas with its 86-core Granite Rapid SKUs, it only needs to use two. Limiting Granite Rapids-WS to 86 cores has the potential to reduce manufacturing costs for Intel.

Rumors have been circulating about a workstation-offshoot of Granite Rapids for months. In February, we covered a Granite Rapids-W leak, allegedly stating these new workstation parts will come with up to 128 PCIe 5.0 lanes, feature eight-channel DDR5 memory support, and support Intel’s outgoing W890 chipset.

Granite Rapids is Intel’s latest generation server architecture, and one of its most competitive yet, featuring core count parity with AMD EYPC processors for the first time since 2017, when it launched in the Xeon 6900P series late last year. Similar to Arrow Lake-S, Granite Rapids is based on a tile-based architecture, featuring several I/O and compute tiles to reach previously untouchable core counts.

Intel hasn’t had a serious CPU lineup that has been able to compete with AMD’s Threadripper WX-series parts over the past two generations. Its outgoing W-3500 Sapphire Rapids Refresh chips only scale up to 60 cores, while AMD has had 96-core trims since the Threadripper 7000WX series and 64-core chips dating all the way back to the Threadripper 3000 series. With Granite Rapids-WS, Intel has its first opportunity in years to approach or outpace AMD on core count in the HEDT/workstation segment, similar to the server market.

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