Intel Xeon Silver 4516Y+ 24c/48t 2.2GHz-3.7GHz 185W (PK8072205499700)

Intel Xeon Silver 4516Y+ — Technical Overview and Performance Insights

The Intel Xeon Silver 4516Y+ is one of the most advanced processors in the Silver tier, offering a significant jump in core density and memory bandwidth compared to earlier generations. With 24 cores and 48 threads, it is designed for modern dual-socket servers handling cloud-native services, virtualization clusters, high-density microservices and distributed storage environments.

Running at a 2.2 GHz base frequency and boosting up to 3.7 GHz, the processor delivers a balanced performance profile that favors sustained multi-core throughput. This makes it well suited for distributed analytics pipelines, message processing workloads, CI/CD automation, telemetry ingestion and large-scale orchestration tasks.

The architecture includes 2 MB of L2 cache per core and a shared 45 MB L3 cache, improving responsiveness under mixed and unpredictable workloads. This benefits distributed databases, search engine data tiers, container clusters and multi-tenant virtualization environments where cache locality and branch efficiency matter.

With support for eight-channel DDR5 memory at speeds up to 4400 MT/s, the Xeon Silver 4516Y+ provides substantial memory bandwidth improvements over DDR4-based systems. This enhancement is valuable for JVM-based services, real-time stream processors, in-memory caching layers and other workloads dependent on high memory throughput.

The CPU also offers 80 lanes of PCIe 5.0, enabling configurations with high-speed NVMe storage, 100/200G networking adapters, SmartNICs and various accelerators. This level of I/O capability allows the processor to anchor flexible server designs, from hybrid virtualization-storage systems to modern edge appliances.

With a 185 W TDP, the processor maintains a practical power envelope while still supporting sustained multi-threaded workloads. It is easier to cool than higher-tier Xeon Gold and Platinum processors, making it suitable for dense chassis designs and limited-airflow environments.

Overall, the Intel Xeon Silver 4516Y+ is a strong choice for organizations modernizing their infrastructure to DDR5 and PCIe 5.0. It delivers an excellent balance of performance, efficiency and scalability without requiring the higher investment associated with Xeon Gold models.