Intel Xeon SPR-MCC shipment halted, firmware fix already underway
Intel confirms it has halted the shipment of certain Sapphire Rapids processors.
According to the report and statement shared by Tom’s Hardware, Intel is aware of an issue that affects the latest Xeon Medium Core Count Sapphire Rapids (SPR-MCC). It is said that a subset of these CPUs may experience system interruption under certain conditions that were not explained by the company in detail. The good news is that only MCC SKUs are affected with no problems reported for XCC and HBM variants.
Furthermore, Intel is currently working on a firmware fix that should resolve this issue. The company is currently testing the mitigation while shipments are halted in case it does not work.
“We became aware of an issue on a subset of 4th Generation Intel Xeon Medium Core Count Processors (SPR-MCC) that could interrupt system operation under certain conditions and are actively investigating. This issue was not observed when running commercially available software, and other 4th Generation Intel Xeon processor SKUs (i.e., XCC and HBM) have not exhibited the issue. Out of an abundance of caution, we did temporarily pause some SPR MCC shipments while we gained confidence in the expected firmware mitigation and expect to release remaining shipments shortly.”
— Intel Spokesperson to Tom’s Hardware.
Intel confirms that the bug was not observed before the release of the series, and it was not when running ‘commercially available software’. The company is clearly not sharing any further details, but as mentioned by Paul Alcorn from Tom’s Hardware and Dylan Patel from SemiAnalaysis, the issue may be related to the timing of the processor. Reportedly only 2-socket and 4-socket variants are impacted by this problem.
The company offers three variants of Sapphire Rapids data-center CPUs, including XCC (36 to 60 cores), MCC (up to 32 cores) and HBM-equipped SKUs for memory intensive workloads. The MCC processors are designed for the mainstream market and may be considered a good compromise between new architecture cost and the benefits of a new platform.
Intel has reportedly halted the shipment in mid-June and there is currently no date when shipments may be resumed.
Source: Tom’s Hardware
