AMD launches their EPYC series of server processors

AMD launches their EPYC series of server processors

AMD launches their EPYC series of server processors

 
AMD has now launched their new EPYC series of processors, offering everything that the server market needs from high core counts, support for large banks of memory and insane amounts of PCIe lanes. 

With EPYC AMD aims to deliver more value with every CPU purchase, offering more CPU performance, memory bandwidth and PCIe connectivity than any existing Intel Xeon CPU. Where Intel’s Xeon E5-2699A v4 offering 22 cores, quad-channel 2400MHz ECC memory support and 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes AMD’s new Zen-based EPYC 7601 offers 32 cores, 8-channel 2666MHz memory support and a total of 128 PCIe lanes.    

At the time of writing, Intel has 98% market share in the server market but with EPYC AMD plans to change this. With EPYC AMD is focusing on the single and dual socket server market, planning to outcompete Intel with attractive pricing, boat loads of IO connectivity and access to up 16 DIMM slots thanks to EPYC’s 8-channel memory support.     

 

AMD launches their EPYC series of server processors

 

Below is a table that includes pricing for AMD’s EPYC series CPUS, with retail availability for their 7601, 7551, 7501 and 7451 CPUs starting today, with the remainder of the lineup launching in July. 

The pricing on these CPUs cannot be seen as anything but attractive, with the 8-core, 16-thread variant arriving with a similar price to some of AMD’s Ryzen 8-core desktop CPUs. While these server CPUs do come with much lower clock speeds, they do come with 128 PCIe lanes, which will make this price more than worthwhile for many customers. 

 

CPU Cores Threads L3 Cache Base Clock Boost Clock TDP PCIe Lanes Price Range
EPYC 7601 32 64 64 MB 2.2 GHz 3.2 GHz 180W 128 Lanes >$4,000 USD
EPYC 7551 32 64 64 MB 2.0 GHz 3.0 GHz 180W >$3,200 USD
EPYC 7501 32 64 64 MB 2.0 GHz 3.0 GHz 155/170W >$2,700 USD
EPYC 7451 24 48 48 MB 2.3 GHz 3.2 GHz 180W >$2,400 USD
EPYC 7401 24 48 48 MB 2.0 GHz 3.0 GHz 155/170W >$1,700 USD
EPYC 7351 16 32 32 MB 2.4 GHz 2.9 GHz 155/170W >$1,100 USD
EPYC 7301 16 32 32 MB 2.2 GHz 2.7 GHz 155/170W >$800 USD
EPYC 7281 16 32 32 MB 2.1 GHz 2.7 GHz 155/170W >$600 USD
EPYC 7251 8 16 16 MB 2.1 GHz 2.9 GHz 120W >$400 USD

Below is a table of AMD’s single-socket EPYC offerings, coming with similar specifications to the company’s dual socket CPUS but with lower pricing on several SKUs. 

Both dual-socket and single processor EPYC CPU configurations will be able to access 128 PCIe lanes, with dual CPU setups using 64-lanes from each CPU for inter-CPU communication. This means that dual-socket configurations will not have access to more PCIe lanes than single-CPU setups. 

  

CPU Cores Threads L3 Cache Base Clock Boost Clock TDP PCIe Lanes Price Range
EPYC 7551P 32 64 64 MB 2.0 GHz 3.0 GHz 180W 128 Lanes >$2,000 USD
EPYC 7401P 24 48 48 MB 2.0 GHz 3.0 GHz 155/170W >$1,000 USD
EPYC 7351P 16 32 32 MB 2.4 GHz 2.9 GHz 155/170W >$700 USD
EPYC 7281 16 32 32 MB 2.1 GHz 2.7 GHz 155/170W >$600 USD
EPYC 7251 8 16 16 MB 2.1 GHz 2.9 GHz 120W >$400 USD

 

Below is a table that has been provided by AMD to showcase EPYC’s performance when compared to Intel’s competing XEON processors, though it is worth noting that AMD has undoubtedly showcased a workload where Ryzen shines. Only time will tell how AMD and Intel compare when wider ranges of configurations are tested by end users.  

AMD launches their EPYC series of server processors

 

On paper AMD’s EPYC CPUs offer a lot of value for money for the server market, ensuring that AMD will be gaining some market share from Intel over the coming quarters. 

EPYC’s story does not end here, with AMD planning more ambitious Zen 2 and Zen 3 based CPUs in the future with GlobalFoundries’ upcoming 7nm manufacturing process. Will AMD be able to dethrone Intel as the king of the server CPU market? 

  

You can join the discussion on AMD’s EPYC series of server CPUs on the OC3D Forums. 

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