Performance comparisons of server and data center CPUs seem to be the hot topic of these days, as most consumer products have already been released. The latest leaks come from HKEPC’s Facebook page, where a moderator has published the results of not just one but two data center CPUs. These are the AMD EPYC Rome and Intel Cascade Lake AP processors.
We know that Intel and AMD are committed to bringing their next generation server CPUs to market in 2019. AMD has already publicly introduced the Rome EPYC processors based on the 7 nm process node. The relative presentation last month shows a good list of details and the design of the 7nm chip together with the 14nm I/O die, coupled in one package.
On the other hand, Intel introduces its new Cascade Lake AP (Advanced Performance) processors, which operate in MCP (Multi-Chip Package) design. Each of these CPUs would contain 48 cores and 96 threads as well as cache enhancements, although Intel would rely on the existing 14nm++ node.
Now coming to the performance tests, we must first talk about AMD EPYC Rome. The platform is a 2S design, which means that there are two CPUs that together provide 128 cores and 256 threads (64 cores and 128 threads per CPU) in total. The CPU has a 1.80 GHz base clock and finishes the test in less than 5 seconds with a reported result of 12861 points. This is quite impressive considering that the score was reached two months ago and that many optimizations are being made in the EPYC Rome.
On the site of Intel Cascade Lake AP. Once again, two CPUs were tested because the Cascade Lake AP platform is designed as a pure 2S solution. The platform had 96 cores and 192 subprocesses (48 cores and 96 subprocesses per CPU). The clock frequency was set to 2.50 GHz (base) and reached a value of 12482 points. Again, the result looks very good considering the smaller number of cores and threads, which is close to AMD’s proposal.
Intel and AMD seem to be very close, with AMD showing an impressive return to the high-performance server market like never before. Intel, on the other hand, with its MCP design does everything to remain competitive, even if its chips are manufactured with an antiquated node before AMD’s 7 nm.