The weird Intel CC150 Processor

[cagoblex]

According to my knowledge It is custom made for Nvidia Geforce Now europe servers. It has 8 cores and 16 threads, with 16MB of L3 cache and 95W TDP. It is running at 3.5GHz but does not support Turbo Boost. It supports ECC Unbuffered memory so it's technically a Xeon E processor rather than an i9. It is not available to the public but you can get them on Taobao.com(The chinese version of eBay) for about $270. It is a retail stepping chip, not ES or QS, so it's not bad for the price.

It is not as fast as an i9 9900K since it's lack of TB, however it has absolutely amazing thermal and power consumption. The Vcore is under 1V and it consumes less than 60W even under full load, which is comparable to an i5 9400.

Running small FTTs test in Prime 95 will push this processor to 82W, however that is still about half of what an i9 9900K would consume. Even with the low profile Noctua NH-L9i cooler, the temperature is still well under 70 degrees. I also tested a i5 8400 I have on hand with the same settings, but with the power limits removed, since it only has 65W TDP, and got higher Vcore and performance. Yes I know 8th gen processors use thermal compound instead of soldered IHS, but the i5 8400 only has 6 cores and 6 threads, which kinda even out the difference.

Unlike Xeon E processors that would only work on C246 motherboards, the CC150, although supports ECC memories, can work on any 300 series motherboards, even on H310. However make sure you have the latest BIOS, since it's a R0 stepping chip, not the P0 stepping.

I also tested using ECC memory on 300 series motherboards. Since the memory controller is integrated in the CPU rather than the motherboard, you can use ECC memory with the CC150 on regular 300 series motherboards. You don't need to change any settings in BIOS to make it work, and there is actually no such settings in BIOS anyways.

You can check out the benchmark results, compatible motherboards, and thermal performance in this youtube video:

 

[CEO_OF_CBT]

i9 9900T?

 

[cagoblex]

i9 9900T?

It’s similar to a 9900T but with much higher TDP and Long term AVX frequency. It has the same AVX frequency as base clock. Since it’s well under PL1 (which are usually set to equal TDP) under full AVX load, there is no PL2 time limit and it will always keep the same frequency.
Plus it supports ECC unbuffer memory, which makes it more like a enhanced Xeon version of 9900T.
Plus it will work not only on C246 motherboards like the other Xeon E series, but also works on 300 series consumer boards. I guess intel did not bother to put the limit in ME for this particular model thinking there won’t be any in the wild.

 

[CEO_OF_CBT]

It’s similar to a 9900T but with much higher TDP and Long term AVX frequency. It has the same AVX frequency as base clock. Since it’s well under PL1 (which are usually set to equal TDP) under full AVX load, there is no PL2 time limit and it will always keep the same frequency.
Plus it supports ECC unbuffer memory, which makes it more like a enhanced Xeon version of 9900T.
Plus it will work not only on C246 motherboards like the other Xeon E series, but also works on 300 series consumer boards. I guess intel did not bother to put the limit in ME for this particular model thinking there won’t be any in the wild.

that's interesting

is it possible you put all core multiplier to be higher? or is the boost frequency adjustment locked?


for 9900T and other locked CPUs, I believe it's still possible to adjust power limits to be unlimited / higher (depending on board)

 

[cagoblex]

No the multiplier is locked to 35X. The boost frequency is also locked to 35X. You can type in a higher value but it will change back to 35X after you hit enter.

Yes it is possible to adjust power limit for 9900T. However it has a lower base clock, and it does not support ECC momeries, although I see no real point of using ECC unbuffered memories.

Not to say I only paid $260 for this chip, it is way cheaper than the 9900T and works out of the box without changing and PL1/PL2 time and power limit. So I think it might be a better choice for people that doesn't know too much about overclocking and just want something that will work out of the box, (assume there is a box lol).