TL;DR: Intel has unveiled its Xeon 600 "Granite Rapids" workstation CPUs, which feature a wide range of improvements over the previous-generation Sapphire Rapids-WS lineup. The new chips offer higher core counts and improved power efficiency, along with support for additional PCIe Gen 5 lanes and faster memory speeds.
The Granite Rapids-WS lineup is designed for Intel's high-end W890 workstation platform and consists of 11 SKUs, including six X-series models with unlocked multipliers and five mainstream models without the X suffix. The full lineup includes the Xeon 698X, 696X, 678X, 676X, 674X, 658X, 656, 654, 638, 636, and 634.
Unlike Sapphire Rapids, which was split into the Xeon W-2500 and Xeon W-3500 lineups, all Granite Rapids processors will be marketed under the unified Xeon 600 branding. However, only five models – Xeon 696X, 678X, 676X, 658X, and 654 – will be available through retail channels for custom builds, while the remaining SKUs will be reserved for pre-built systems from Intel's hardware partners.
The flagship SKU in the Xeon 600 lineup is the 698X, which features 86 cores, 336 MB of L3 cache, a 2.0 GHz base frequency, a maximum boost frequency of 4.8 GHz, and an all-core boost of 3.0 GHz. It supports 128 PCIe Gen 5 lanes and carries a 350 W base TDP, with a 420 W Maximum Turbo Power rating.
The 698X also offers an unlocked multiplier and supports eight-channel memory, with speeds of up to 6,400 MT/s for DDR5 UDIMMs and up to 8,000 MT/s for DDR5 MRDIMMs. RDIMM memory support represents a significant upgrade over the Xeon W9-3595X Sapphire Rapids processor, which supports UDIMM speeds of up to 4,800 MT/s.
It is worth noting that all Granite Rapids-WS SKUs use the same package, but Intel employs three different die configurations across the lineup. The top-end 698X and 696X are based on the XCC die, while the mid-range 678X, 676X, 674X, and 658X use the HCC die. The 656, 654, 638, 636, and 634 models, which feature locked multipliers, are based on the LCC die.
Granite Rapids is designed for a wide range of professional workloads, including content creation, data science, AI training, and engineering simulation and visualization. The lineup will compete with AMD's Threadripper 9000 series, led by the 9995WX, which features 96 cores and 192 threads.
Pricing for the Granite Rapids-WS lineup starts at $499 for the entry-level Xeon 634, while the flagship 698X carries a $7,699 MSRP – a notable discount compared with the $11,699 price of the Threadripper 9995WX. The new processors will be available through Intel's hardware partners and retail channels starting in late March 2026.