> does anyone expect RISC-V to really go head-to-head with Xeon, Opteron, ThunderX, Centriq?
Yes, and no. RISC-V is disruptive [1] to both ARM and x86. But before it can run (compete with Intel CPUs), it needs to crawl (compete with low-end ARM CPUs/microcontrollers). It could take a decade or more before RISC-V competes at the high-end. Basically think of it as following ARM's path but on a much more accelerated path (for many different reasons: much larger chip market these days, being open source and royalty-free, etc).
I think part of the accelerated path will be that we are reaching the limits of 'easy' (in the billions already) process improvements.
When everyone and his dog has 14nm you can't rely on process to keep you ahead, Ryzen has shown this partially recently, Broadwell level IPC on an Octacore processor for less than Intel sells a Quad core.
It's going to be a bloodbath as the middle eats into the top.
Yes, and no. RISC-V is disruptive [1] to both ARM and x86. But before it can run (compete with Intel CPUs), it needs to crawl (compete with low-end ARM CPUs/microcontrollers). It could take a decade or more before RISC-V competes at the high-end. Basically think of it as following ARM's path but on a much more accelerated path (for many different reasons: much larger chip market these days, being open source and royalty-free, etc).
[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbPiAzzGap0