The first performance results of AMD's EPYC Rome generation of server processors based on the 7nm Zen 2 core architecture have been spotted. The benchmarks include the latest 32 core & 64 thread EPYC 7452 which falls under the latest Rome family and is compared against Intel's Xeon Gold and AMD's own EPYC Naples server chips.

AMD EPYC 7452 'Rome' CPU With 7nm Zen 2 Cores Benchmarked, All Set To Dominate Over The Intel Xeon Server Lineup

The first benchmarks of the AMD EPYC 7452 'Rome' processor are posted by OpenBenchmarking. These results can no longer be viewed since they have been removed from the online source but we managed to grab a copy of the benchmarks before they were taken online. We will be taking a look at both the specs and performance numbers of the specific chip along with its competitors so buckle up!

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The AMD EPYC 7452 is the chip that we will be focusing on as it is based on the 7 nm Zen 2 core architecture. The chip features 32 cores and 64 threads. The clock speed is maintained at 2.35 GHz which is a nice frequency bump over the EPYC 7551 'Naples' chip that features the same number of cores/threads but is based on the 14nm Zen architecture and has a clock speed of 2.00 GHz.

Both AMD chips are tested in a dual socket configuration so we are looking at 64 cores and 128 threads in total. AMD has an individual 64 core and 128 thread part which we should see in the official launch lineup in Q3 2019 so a dual socket server based around that would offer 128 cores and 256 threads. The AMD EPYC chips (1st and 2nd Gen) were tested against Intel's Xeon Gold 6148 which has 20 cores and 40 threads, clocking in at 2.40 GHz base and 3.70 GHz boost.

The Intel Xeon platform was also running a 2S (Dual Socket) configuration and each chip is a 150W SKU costing a grand total of $3000 US. The AMD EPYC 7551 is comparison is a 180W SKU with a price tag hovering around $3600 US so we should be expecting the EPYC 7452 to feature a lower TDP figure and a much more reasonable price tag too. While some would say that it's unfair to put a 20 core part against a 32 core part, it should also be pointed out that Intel's higher core count SKUs cost almost twice as much. For example, an Intel Xeon Platinum 8280 with 28 cores and 56 threads, the highest core count SKU in Intel's Xeon family, goes for around $10,000 US. So when it comes to value for money and power efficiency, AMD's EPYC seems to be the way to go.

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Anyways, moving to the benchmarks. The three platforms were compared in various server aimed workloads such as C-Ray, SmallPt (Global Illumination Renderer), OpenSSL, Compress-Gzip, build-php and more. The AMD EPYC 7452 came ahead in four of the benchmarks while it was a neck to neck competition in two of the benchmarks. These benchmarks in specific were the build-php and compress-gzip, where the Intel Xeon got ahead by a slight margin. In the rest of the benchmarks, the AMD EPYC Rome chip showed a massive lead. Even the AMD EPYC 7551 which is based on the older Naples architecture delivered better results in four benchmarks versus the Intel Xeon Gold.

While Intel has previously released statements about AMD not using proper optimizations for their Xeon CPUs in publicly shown demos, these independently run benchmarks do provide us a better look of whos ahead in the server game and who's not. Following is a proper breakdown of all the benchmarks:

In addition to the benchmarks, we also have a first look at what seems to be the EPYC 7452 Rome CPU itself, directly from Chiphell Forums. The processor seems to be using a green colored carrier case rather than an orange one (used on Threadripper) or a blue one (used on EPYC Naples chips). It's a nice touch to differentiate the processor families and we expect to see many more colors in the future from AMD *wink*.

AMD EPYC Rome Server Processors – Here’s What To Expect

As for the EPYC Rome processors, AMD has confirmed that they are aiming a launch in Q3 2019 which should be a few months apart from the Ryzen and the Ryzen Threadripper processors. The AMD EPYC Rome processor family is expected to lift AMD's server CPU market share to 10% by 2020 which is a great deal considering Intel's ex-CEO, Brian Krzanich, had stated that they don't want AMD capturing 15% market share but given the demand and adoption of EPYC processors in major server platforms, 15% shouldn't be too far from now.

Just for number's sake, Dell EMC has announced that they will be tripling their AMD server offering by adopting more of the EPYC range of processors.

"Out of, let's say, 50 or so platforms that we have today," he said, "three of them are AMD - we'll probably triple that by the end of this year." He also confirmed that Dell EMC will be launching servers powered by AMD's newest architecture - a 7nm architecture codenamed 'Rome' - in the second half of 2019. - Dominique Vanhamme (DELL EMEA vice president and general manager for storage and compute) via IT Pro

Based on such strong growth figures and adoption rate, we can expect AMD to give major blows to Intel's Xeon efforts and their server side of operations. We should expect up to 64 cores and 128 threads along with impressive PCIe Gen 4 connectivity with up to 162 lanes as summarized here.

It should also be pointed out that when AMD was designing their 7nm Zen 2 based EPYC Rome processors, they had internally estimated what the performance of Intel's next-gen server part would be like. The next-gen 10nm part known as Ice Lake-SP is scheduled to launch for 2020 with Cascade Lake-SP and Cooper Lake-SP being offered as an intermediary solution based on 14nm (++) while the Cascade Lake-AP and Cooper Lake-AP would be designed as a multi-core HPC part.

“Rome was designed to compete favorably with “Ice Lake” Xeons, but it is not going to be competing against that chip. We are incredibly excited, and it is all coming together at one point.” – Forrest Norrod. “Our plan for the Naples-Rome-Milan roadmap was based on assumptions around Intel’s roadmap and our estimation of what would we do if we were Intel,” Norrod continues. “We thought deeply about what they are like, what they are not like, what their culture is and what their likely reactions are, and we planned against a very aggressive Intel roadmap, and I really Rome and Milan and what is after them against what we thought Intel could do. And then, we come to find out that they can’t do what we thought they might be able to. And so, we have an incredible opportunity via TheNextPlatform

AMD confirmed that their EPYC Rome processors have been designed to compete favorably against Intel's Ice Lake-SP parts. This only means that AMD would have an even greater edge versus the Intel 14nm++ server parts arriving this year.

One of the biggest advantage that EPYC Rome processors will have over Intel parts is that they will be socket compatible with EPYC Naples so all of those vendors who have been using Naples would get drop-in compatibility for AMD's next-gen 7nm EPYC Rome processors on day one.

AMD looks to be in a really good position with their EPYC server processors, even more so than their desktop and mobility portfolios. If everything runs smoothly for AMD and their long-term Zen roadmap in the years to come, we can see them dominating all sectors of the CPU market again.

AMD has planned out multiple events to pre-announce their upcoming products starting off with Computex 2019 on 27th May and E3 2019 on 10th June. AMD will be presenting their new products and also announcing the proper availability dates for their consumer-based lineups which have been previously suggested for official launch in July 2019.