16-core competitor to Intel Xeon released

Recently, the Chinese company Loongson announced the release of a new processor 3C6000. According to the developers, it can compete with Intel Xeon chips of the Ice Lake generation. 3C6000 has 16 cores, but you can combine four processors and get 64 computing cores at once. Details are under the cut.

Unique and powerful

When reading the description, you need to understand that the developer will use only superlatives when declaring the capabilities of the processor. It is not yet possible to verify the manufacturer's statements. But still, this is a powerful server chip based on 16 LA664 cores. It supports 32 instruction streams, two per core. The advantage of the new processor is the built-in security module, compatible with national encryption standards of China and international standards.

In the SPEC CPU 2017 benchmark, the chip shows 65–95% higher performance compared to the previous generation. Other tests were also conducted. In the UnixBench benchmark, the increase in single-core mode is 33%, in multi-core mode — 100%. When compared with the Intel Xeon 4314 in the SPEC CPU benchmark, there is practically no difference. Unfortunately, this is known only from the developers. They also report that in UnixBench, the new Intel Xeon 4314 processor is 5% inferior in single-threaded mode, but wins by 10% in multi-threaded mode.

Comparing the 3D6000's capabilities with its predecessor, the Loongson 3D5000, the new chip has 62-110% higher performance across four SPEC CPU 2017 benchmarks. UnixBench's single-threaded and multi-threaded benchmarks showed 55% and 79% better performance, respectively.

The processors can be compared at least because they have 16 cores. The company promises to publish benchmark test results and detailed technical information in the near future. The Chinese usually do this with new chips: they whip up interest, and after the processors go on sale, they start publishing test results. Sometimes the chips are provided to independent testers, including Western experts.

A constructor, but not for children

The 3C6000 processor is good in itself, but it can be used to assemble complex chips with increased performance. This is what they do in China: they created a composite chip 3D6000 based on the 3C6000. In fact, this is a chiplet, which consists of two 3C6000 connected by a special interface – the Dragonchain interconnect.

This kind of composite processor can compete with chips from Western manufacturers. For example, with Xeon Silver 4314 – both have 32 cores and 64 threads.

There is another “constructor”, more complex. It consists of two 3D6000 and four 3C6000. This chiplet is called 3E6000, it has 64 cores and 128 threads. Unfortunately, the company did not compare its characteristics with Western analogues. But, as experts believethe gap between China's Loongson and America's Intel has narrowed to three years.

Now the Chinese are working on even more modern and productive chips, aiming to reduce the gap to zero. And perhaps even overtake Western companies. Of course, this will not be easy, but it seems that China considers this goal possible.

It is important to note that the processors are not just engineering samples. The 3C6000 will go on sale in Q4 2024. As for the chiplet systems, they will appear on sale later. According to the plan, the 3C6000 and 3E6000 will be released in early and mid-2025, respectively.

There is no information yet about the cost of the chips and the process technology. The contract manufacturer of processors with which Loongson cooperates is also not reported. Most likely, this is SMIC, which independently achieved the 14-nm process technology and has begun to master the 5-nm process technology.

Loongson and her successes

Loongson is far from a newcomer in the field of chip development and production. The company was founded in 2002, only it was called BLX IC Design Corporation. Shares in it, as well as some of the developments, belong to the Institute of Computer Technology of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Jiangsu Zhongy Group.

Loongson's first notable success was the Godson-3 chip, which appeared in 2008. 300 engineers worked on this project, and the funding was provided by the Chinese government. Today, China continues to support this manufacturer. Five years ago, the Chinese leadership announced the allocation of several trillion US dollars to develop a state-owned industry for the production of modern chips.

All this is bearing fruit: China is gradually expanding its industry, producing more modern chips and, most importantly, gradually preparing its own lithographs. As a result, China is becoming less dependent on Western technologies.

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