A major development in China's semiconductor industry has emerged as Hygon, one of the country's leading fabless semiconductor companies, unveils plans for an ambitious new server processor. The upcoming C86-5G CPU will feature 128 cores and 512 threads, marking a substantial advancement in Chinese processor technology.
The new processor implements four-way simultaneous multithreading (SMT4), enabling four threads per core - a design previously seen in processors like Intel's Xeon Phi and IBM's Power8. This architecture allows the C86-5G to handle 512 concurrent threads, doubling the core count and quadrupling the thread count of its predecessor.
Technical specifications reveal impressive capabilities, including support for AVX-512 instructions and 16-channel DDR5-5600 memory. The expanded memory channels represent an upgrade from the previous generation's 12-channel DDR5-4800 configuration, potentially allowing the system to utilize up to 1TB of RAM.
The processor will incorporate Compute Express Link 2.0 (CXL2.0) technology, placing it on par with current offerings from industry leaders AMD and Intel in terms of interconnect standards. Hygon claims the C86-5G will deliver over 17% improvement in instructions per cycle (IPC) compared to its predecessor.
While specific details about the underlying microarchitecture remain undisclosed, Hygon indicates it builds upon their "new self-developed microarchitecture" introduced with the C86-4G model. This represents a departure from their earlier processors based on AMD's Zen IP.
The development of the C86-5G aligns with China's push toward technological self-sufficiency in semiconductor manufacturing. Though release dates have not been announced, industry observers anticipate performance benchmarks to emerge soon.
This advancement demonstrates China's growing capabilities in high-performance computing, though experts note that matching the performance levels of established industry leaders remains a challenging goal.