Does Xeon Phi works with i7 CPUs

Question

Does Xeon Phi coprossesors works with i7 CPUs ?

It's advertised for use with Xeons, but for my app (WRF), i7-3930k performs better and is 3 times cheaper than high grade xeons. So I wonder if I could use Xeon Phi with an i7 cpu ?

Answer 1

There is not a lot of easily discoverable technical information available for the Phi yet. (The scant Intel pile, including the Software Developer/User guides). All the press suggests that the Phi is meant to run along-side newer generation Xeons (E5-2600 and 4600 lines specifically), but isn't telling us what the architectural reason for this is.

Intel's own doc further support this:

The Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor ... can be added to a supported Intel Xeon processor-based server.

Clearly, Intel wants these things to be used with their Enterprise CPUs. It may be possible to use them with their I-line, but that is not supported (or specifically excluded) by the documentation I can dredge up. They haven't been out long enough, and in enough quantities for people to get a feel for what they're actually capable of.

I'd stick with Xeons for now, even though they don't work as well for you.