Intel Xeon 6776P 80c/160t 2.3GHz-3.6GHz 350W (PK8072006455400)

Intel Xeon 6776P — 2-Socket Granite Rapids CPU for High-Throughput Virtualization and Data-Intensive Compute

Intel Xeon 6776P is a server processor in the Intel Xeon 6 family (Granite Rapids) designed for 2-socket platforms where balanced throughput, strong per-core performance, and predictable behavior under sustained load matter more than peak burst performance. In practical terms, it targets virtualization hosts, enterprise databases, distributed storage nodes, analytics clusters, and general HPC-style workloads that need a lot of “real” compute cores paired with high memory bandwidth and modern I/O.

At the silicon level, this model is built on Intel 3 process technology and ships with 64 cores / 128 threads. The base frequency is 2.3 GHz, while turbo behavior is split into multiple regimes: up to 3.9 GHz max turbo, 3.6 GHz all-core turbo, plus Priority Core Turbo (PCT) that can push a smaller set of priority cores higher (up to 4.6 GHz on up to 8 cores). This is a meaningful detail for mixed workloads: you can keep high aggregate throughput on many threads, while still improving tail-latency for a subset of latency-sensitive threads (for example, VM scheduling hotspots, critical database threads, or microservice control-plane components).

A defining strength of Xeon 6776P is memory capability. The platform supports 8 memory channels and up to 4 TB capacity. More importantly, the official memory support spans standard DDR5 up to 6400 MT/s and MRDIMM up to 8000 MT/s, with “Maximum Memory Speed” listed as 8000 MT/s. For professionals sizing nodes, this means the part can be configured either for conventional DDR5 density/cost targets, or pushed into a higher-bandwidth profile using MRDIMMs when memory throughput becomes the limiter (common in analytics, in-memory caching layers, and bandwidth-bound scientific workloads).

On the I/O side, the CPU exposes PCIe 5.0, with up to 88 PCIe lanes listed. In a 2-socket design, this is typically enough to build a very practical mix of high-speed NVMe, fast networking, and accelerator connectivity without immediately forcing heavy PCIe switching. It’s especially relevant for modern hyperconverged nodes: you can attach multiple NVMe drives for storage tiers, one or two high-bandwidth NICs, and still keep room for additional devices like DPUs or capture/processing cards depending on the environment.

For enterprise security and isolation, Xeon 6776P supports Intel TDX (Trust Domain Extensions) and Total Memory Encryption (including Multi-Key), which are commonly evaluated in confidential computing scenarios and multi-tenant environments. If you are architecting a platform for regulated workloads or strong isolation boundaries, these capabilities affect not just security posture but also the practical software stack choices (hypervisor builds, kernel support, attestation paths).

Intel also enables a set of on-die accelerators and instruction capabilities that impact real workloads more than marketing suggests. Xeon 6776P lists AMX (Advanced Matrix Extensions) as supported, along with AVX-512 and common enterprise instructions, plus integrated accelerators such as QAT, DLB, DSA, and IAA (each shown as “2 default devices”). For platforms that actually use them, these blocks can offload compression/crypto, data movement, and analytics primitives, improving throughput while freeing CPU cycles for application logic. The value depends on your software stack maturity (libraries, kernel drivers, frameworks), but in well-integrated environments these features become part of a performance-per-watt strategy rather than a “nice to have.”

Thermally, this is a 350 W part. That immediately frames deployment constraints: chassis airflow, heatsink class, rack power budgeting, and sustained turbo expectations must be engineered, not assumed. In dense 2S servers, a 350 W CPU typically implies that consistent peak performance requires strong cooling headroom; otherwise, the system will trade sustained clocks for thermals. From a practical procurement angle, it’s a reminder to validate platform SKUs (fan kits, heatsinks, BIOS power policies) rather than treating “same socket” as “same behavior.”

Where Xeon 6776P tends to fit best: virtualization and private cloud hosts that need high core counts plus strong memory bandwidth; data platforms where per-node memory speed matters (distributed SQL, caches, analytics engines); general compute clusters where PCIe 5.0 + modern memory support helps avoid bottlenecks during storage/network scale-up; secure multi-tenant environments evaluating confidential computing features.

What to watch during design and sizing: confirm whether your target platform exposes the full intended I/O topology (lane bifurcation, PCIe slot wiring, NVMe backplane mapping); decide early whether DDR5 6400 or MRDIMM 8000 aligns with your workload’s bottleneck and cost model; treat 350 W as a system-level requirement (cooling, rack density, sustained clocks), not a spec sheet footnote.