Intel Xeon CPU Max 9470 52c/104t 2.0GHz-3.5GHz 350W (PK8071305223200)

Intel Xeon CPU Max 9470 for High-Bandwidth Scientific and HPC Workloads

The Intel Xeon CPU Max 9470 is one of the most capable high-bandwidth processors in the Sapphire Rapids Max lineup, engineered for simulation-heavy HPC clusters and scientific workloads that demand exceptional memory throughput. Its defining characteristic is the integration of on-package HBM2e, which provides bandwidth levels typically associated with accelerator hardware rather than conventional CPUs.

With 52 cores and 104 threads, the processor offers strong parallel performance, but its main advantage comes from combining this compute density with high-bandwidth HBM. Many scientific workloads—including climate modeling, molecular dynamics, quantum chemistry, seismic processing, and reactor simulations—are limited not by compute capacity but by memory bandwidth. The Xeon CPU Max 9470 directly addresses this bottleneck by delivering significantly higher bandwidth than DDR-only architectures.

The processor operates at a 2.0 GHz base frequency and boosts up to 3.5 GHz, providing consistent performance for long-duration HPC simulations. Sapphire Rapids accelerator technologies such as AMX, DSA, IAA, and QAT further enhance efficiency in mixed workloads by offloading matrix operations, data movement, analytics, and compression tasks.

The Xeon CPU Max 9470 supports multiple HBM operational modes, including HBM-only mode for bandwidth-intensive solvers, HBM-as-cache mode for transparent acceleration, and flat mode for manual memory control in tuned HPC applications. This flexibility enables researchers and developers to optimize memory behavior for their specific simulation kernels and compute frameworks.

In addition to HBM, the processor supports 8-channel DDR5 for large datasets and out-of-core approaches. The combined memory architecture offers both capacity and bandwidth, enabling efficient handling of simulation meshes, field arrays, and large numerical models.

The CPU provides 80 PCIe 5.0 lanes for GPU clusters, high-speed networking, CXL expansion, and NVMe fabrics. Strong I/O throughput is essential for multi-node MPI workloads and high-frequency data exchange in tightly coupled simulations.

With a 350 W TDP, the Xeon CPU Max 9470 is designed for advanced cooling environments typical of HPC deployments. Despite the high thermal envelope, the performance gains often reduce total node counts and overall job runtimes, improving cluster efficiency.

The Intel Xeon CPU Max 9470 is a compelling choice for HPC centers modernizing their compute nodes for simulation-heavy workloads. Its memory-centric design provides significant acceleration for bandwidth-bound applications while maintaining broad compatibility with scientific software ecosystems.