AMD takes on Intel and Nvidia with new 256-core EPYC server CPUs - Network World
AMD has unveiled its 6th Gen EPYC 9006 SP7 server processors, featuring up to 256 cores, to compete with Intel’s Xeon and Nvidia’s Vera CPUs in the data center.
The new EPYC 9006 SP7 range comprises 10 processor models with configurations ranging from 64 to 256 cores and up to 512 threads per socket.
These processors support 16 channels of DDR5 memory and PCIe Gen 6 connectivity, offering twice the bandwidth per lane compared with PCIe Gen 5.
Systems powered by the new CPUs are now shipping from leading server manufacturers and original design manufacturers (ODMs).
Cloud instances from Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) will be available soon.
With 6th Gen AMD EPYC, customers can standardize on the proven x86 foundation while choosing a workload-optimized solution to run more agents, keep accelerated infrastructure fed and power the business-critical applications they depend on.
Performance claims
AMD is pitching the new processors against Intel’s Xeon and Nvidia’s Vera CPUs, claiming significant performance advantages in its internal and published benchmark comparisons.
The company claims a server powered by its flagship 256-core EPYC 9996 delivers up to 3.7 times the performance of a system powered by Nvidia’s Vera CPU.
Against Intel’s Xeon 6980P, the EPYC 9996 offers up to 2.2 times the performance and twice the performance per dollar.
For AI agent workloads, AMD also claims its high-density EPYC processors can deliver up to 3.3 times more agents per CPU watt than Nvidia Vera and 2.5 times more than Intel Xeon 6980P when hosting agent sandboxes.
Meanwhile, its high-frequency processors can deliver up to 1.8 times the LLM output throughput of the previous-generation EPYC processors in CPU-offloaded inference workloads.
Rather than simply increasing core counts, AMD aims to deliver more computing power within existing power and infrastructure limits. This makes the platform particularly relevant for cloud computing, virtualization, high-performance computing (HPC), enterprise databases, data analytics and AI infrastructure.
Market positioning
Danish Faruqui, CEO at Fab Economics, recommends AMD’s high-core-count EPYC processors for cloud consolidation, VDI and AI agent workloads.
He says the high-frequency EPYC models are better suited to databases and enterprise applications where software licensing costs are a concern.
For memory-intensive HPC and scientific workloads, he recommends EPYC 9006, while recommending Nvidia Vera for tightly integrated AI training and inference clusters.
Intel Xeon 6 remains an option for enterprises looking to maintain existing x86 infrastructure, particularly in air-cooled racks, he said.
Pareekh Jain, CEO at EIIRTrend & Pareekh Consulting, advises CIOs to evaluate the choice based on the specific workloads they intend to run.
AI agents and cloud applications may benefit from more cores, while some databases need faster individual cores.
The best processor is the one that runs their applications most efficiently, he said.
AMD’s flagship EPYC 9996 is priced at around $14,900, broadly comparable to high-end Intel Xeon processors.
Jain also advised enterprises to calculate the total cost of ownership over three to five years.
This includes hardware, electricity, cooling, software licensing, maintenance, and migration costs.
AMD’s higher computing capacity could allow companies to replace several older servers with fewer new ones.
However, expensive software licensing and migration costs could reduce these savings.
Enterprises running servers that are three to six years old, facing high electricity bills, or expanding their AI workloads have stronger reasons to consider upgrading.
Companies with relatively new servers, however, may not see enough savings to justify replacing them.
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