This is a drastically different architecture when compared to the Construction cores - we'll really have to wait for individual benchmarks on both the Integer and Floating Point units to know for sure.
While this is true, it does not brush away the fact that Summit Ridge can be compared to XV on a core-by-core/module-by-module basis in terms of raw performance (notably throughput).
It's current pricing is due to its position as last generation's boutique flagship product. Do not think Intel must sell it at that price. There are any number of Xeons providing similar performance at lower prices, albeit without the unlocked multi.
Bottom line is that Intel has had multicore Haswell-E parts since Q3 2014 with 8c and more. Yet AMD is chasing Sandy Bridge?!? The TDP is nice, but Intel's relative performance per watt has improved with Broadwell-E already, and Skylake-E is the next competitor in line . . .
If AMD can offer 70%-80% of the MT performance and 80%-90% of the ST performance, in a 95W package at a $299-$399 price point, that's going to get a lot of takers.
Why? Except for the "I hate Intel" crowd - and there are some people like that, even in corporate space - I don't see this happening much if at all. AMD has said that they aren't going to be the "bargain" brand anymore. $299 Summit Ridge makes them the bargain brand.
Don't get me wrong, I think $299 8c/16t anything sounds like fun . . . I just don't see them doing well in server rooms and data centers with that.
For reference, the going rate on eBay for a used Sandy Bridge E5-2687W CPU (8C/16T, 3.1 GHz base, 3.8 GHz turbo) is about $350. That has a TDP of 150W and requires an expensive LGA 2011 motherboard- not to mention that it comes with no warranty or support of any kind. You don't think that kind of performance at 95W on a fully supported modern platform would sell decently at the right price?
Those prices are inflated by numerous factors we can't even take into account here. If anything I expect prices on used SB-E, IVB-E, and HSW-E processors to take a dump if Summit Ridge is the "bargain" HEDT/Workstation CPU that people are projecting here.
Hard to prove a hypothetical
XV is here already, and has been since last year. We know what it can do, even with no L3 cache and an undersized L2. Extrapolate over multiple cores.
but all the signs point to the construction cores having fundamental, unfixable structural problems.
. . . really? If you have followed the Construction core progression from Bulldozer to Excavator, then you've seen a great deal of improvement. 8c/16t XV just based off Carrizo numbers would be pretty damn good! They could have had low power server parts in the 2.5-3 GHz range and TDPs in the 60-95W range in 2015 just on the old 28nm SPP, not to speak of what they could have achieved by now using 22nm FDSOI or 22FDX.
All the tech was there. They needed the funds and manpower to make it happen, and all that was diverted elsewhere. That elsewhere had better lead to something better than what it's obvious that they could have done by now with XV.