Published in PC Hardware

AMD looks set to embarrass Chipzilla in servers

by on21 May 2024


More cores than you can poke a stick at

The dark satanic rumour mill is abuzz with news about what AMD's Zen 5 and Zen 5c architectures will look like, and it seems like the server market will be Team Red’s.

According to PC Gamer, if the rumours are true, AMD will push core counts to new records with the next EPYC server chips, which could even have as many as 192 cores and 384 threads in a single package.

Twitter leakers  InstLatX64, Kepler_L2, and Harukaze5719 claim that Zen 6, which is still in the development phase, will have up to 32 cores per CCD and smaller eight-core and 16-core CCD variants.

Gaming PCs don't require as many CPU cores. This is partly because the most recent gaming consoles are equipped with eight-core, 16-thread processors but primarily because games are not typically designed to benefit from extensive multithreading. You're better served by a CPU that boasts high clock speeds and an abundance of low-latency cache to expedite processes, such as the outstanding Ryzen 7 7800X3D.

However, workstations and servers are an entirely different matter, with numerous applications that can use as many cores and threads as possible, and demand more. When it comes to sheer core numbers, AMD has outpaced Intel in the server market. The most robust Xeon processor available for purchase, the Xeon Platinum 8592+, 'merely' offers 64 cores and 128 threads. In contrast, AMD's EPYC 9754 easily surpasses this with 128 cores and 256 threads.

Should Zen 5 and 5c elevate performance standards once more, Intel may risk ceding further territory to AMD within the lucrative data centre sector. With this year's Computex event just a month away, it's likely only a matter of time before AMD reveals comprehensive details about its latest innovations.

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