Intel Xeon Platinum 8480+ 56c/112t 2.0GHz-3.8GHz 350W (PK8071305074801)

Intel Xeon Platinum 8480+ – High-Density Sapphire Rapids CPU Optimized for Large-Scale HPC, AI Inference and Enterprise Compute

The Intel Xeon Platinum 8480+ represents one of the most compute-dense processors in the Sapphire Rapids lineup. Equipped with 56 cores and 112 threads, it is designed for organizations that require high throughput per socket, stable multi-node scaling and strong performance in mixed workloads combining vector, matrix and memory-intensive operations.

A defining characteristic of the 8480+ is its consistently high efficiency in HPC and enterprise compute environments. With a 2.0 GHz base frequency and up to 3.8 GHz turbo, the processor maintains impressive throughput across large NUMA configurations. This makes it well suited for simulations, CFD, weather modeling, reservoir analysis and financial risk calculations where large core counts translate directly into shorter computation times.

Sapphire Rapids architecture brings a substantial upgrade through built-in accelerators. Intel AMX delivers up to multi-fold improvements in matrix operations used in AI inference, recommendation systems and optimization algorithms. Intel IAA improves performance in analytic databases, columnar compression and high-volume indexing, reducing CPU overhead in large distributed storage layers. Intel DSA provides offload for data movement, improving effective memory bandwidth—especially relevant for large memory workloads in scientific computing or virtualization.

Memory subsystem design is another strength of the 8480+. Eight DDR5 channels running up to 4800 MT/s offer high sustained bandwidth and reduced latency variance compared to previous Xeon generations. This memory speed is critical for workloads such as in-memory analytics, real-time risk engines, and distributed SQL platforms that depend on fast, predictable access patterns. With support for up to 4 TB of RAM per socket, the platform scales efficiently in large enterprise deployments.

I/O capabilities are equally robust. With up to 80 PCIe 5.0 lanes per CPU, the 8480+ enables high-density accelerator configurations—GPU clusters, FPGA offload cards, NVMe fabrics or SmartNICs for containerized microservices. PCIe 5.0 bandwidth is essential for modern AI and HPC clusters, where interconnect speed often becomes the bottleneck in multi-node environments.

In practical use, the 8480+ often competes with the 8470N and 8468 series. However, its 56-core configuration gives it a distinct advantage in workloads that benefit from high thread parallelism without requiring the extreme memory or thermal envelope of top-bin models. It also demonstrates excellent deterministic performance under sustained load—important for predictable batch scheduling in Slurm-based clusters and Kubernetes HPC operators.

Across datacenter categories, the Xeon Platinum 8480+ is particularly effective for HPC simulation clusters requiring dense, multi-socket compute nodes, AI inference workloads using AMX-accelerated matrix operations, enterprise virtualization and cloud platforms that rely on high per-socket throughput, real-time financial analytics, risk modeling and Monte Carlo simulation, data warehousing, ETL and in-memory database engines.

Reliability and scalability are defining traits: the processor’s performance consistency across long-duration tasks contributes to lower operational variance, easier tuning of resource managers and improved node-to-node predictability in distributed workloads.

Overall, the Intel Xeon Platinum 8480+ stands out as a high-density compute engine capable of driving demanding scientific, enterprise and AI applications. Its combination of large core count, strong acceleration support, high memory bandwidth and extensive PCIe resources makes it one of the most versatile CPUs in the Sapphire Rapids family.