Despite U.S. restrictions, China's semiconductor industry has seen impressive success. Today, Loongson announced the release of a test batch of 3C6000, 3D6000 and 3E6000 server processors, which are currently being sent for testing. Loongson's new server chip series will be released in the fourth quarter of 2024 and will be released exactly as planned.
Image source: Loongson
Loongson's new server processors are distinguished by their chiplet layout. While the 3C6000 itself is a 16-core and 32-thread processor, the 3D6000 contains two 3C6000 chips connected via a Loongson coherent chain high-speed bus to form a 32-core and 64-thread processor. And the 64-core and 128-thread 3E6000 combines four 3C6000 chiplets.
The 3C6000 contains 16 LA664 cores and uses the Loongson Dragon Arch microarchitecture. The manufacturer claims that the LA664 core offers twice the performance of its predecessor in the latest generation of 3C5000 processors (running at 2.2 GHz). The 3C6000 series will also support up to four DDR4-3200 memory channels.
Chiplet layouts have long been considered the future of microprocessors, and nowhere is this more evident than in China in a world that has survived Moore's Law. Due to U.S. sanctions, this technology is seen as a way to achieve higher productivity in a roundabout way. However, Loongson is working hard to develop cutting-edge chips, unlike many Chinese manufacturers who have completely switched to outdated process manufacturing.
Loongson's efforts are impressive: thanks to its MIPS-based LoongArch ISA architecture and the use of domestic factories, the company has successfully promoted its growth in the Chinese (and not only) market. The latest Loongson processors are close to Intel's 10th generation processors in terms of performance.
With China restricting government agencies from using computers with foreign-made processors, Loongson continues to increase its share of the Chinese market. In particular, all Chinese schools are equipped with PCs based on Loongson processors.