An alleged benchmark of AMD's next-generation 7nm based EPYC Rome server processor has just leaked out. The benchmark which was posted at Chiphell forums is presumably from a next-gen 7 nm part which will be available in 2019 for servers and shows us the incredible multi-tasking CPU performance which the new lineup would pack.

AMD's Next-Gen, 7nm Based EPYC Rome 64 Core CPU Allegedly Pictured and Benchmark - 2019's Fastest Multi-Core Processor For Servers In The Making

The leak shows an AMD engineering sample which is about the same size and dimensions as the current EPYC 'Naples' series of processors. The codename and ID have been blocked out which is why we cannot tell whether this is real or not but the benchmark that is shown for this chip is also very interesting.

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The chip was tested in Cinebench R15 multi-thread benchmark and the chip scores an astonishing 12,587 points which are beyond anything current-generation processors can achieve. AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX scores around 5500 points in the same benchmark with 32 cores and 64 threads. The score we are looking at in the leaks shows more than twice the performance of the flagship Threadripper SKU. There's also the EPYC 7601 SKU which scores around 6000 points that is due to the octa-channel memory support compared to the quad channel on the Threadripper CPUs.

Given that the new EPYC Rome 7nm processors will be utilizing a similar octal channel memory and feature better IPC from enhanced Zen 2 cores with better cache latencies and an improved core-to -core interconnect, we can see the performance being close to the one shown in the leaks with the addition of twice the number of cores and threads. There's also the clock speeds which may get a boost from the new 7nm process node over the current 14nm based EPYC chips so it might make sense why the chip scores this good in the benchmark. Then again, this leak is not confirmed so better wait for more information which is expected at CES 2019.

AMD EPYC 'Rome' 7nm Processors Aimed For 2019 Launch - Faster Zen 2 Cores With IPC and Clock Improvements And Much More

At Computex 2018, AMD announced that they are sampling the second generation, 7nm based EPYC ‘Rome’ processors in 2H 2018. AMD’s CEO, Lisa Su, even held a 7nm EPYC processor in her hands, showcasing it to the audience. The same processors are currently in AMD labs and being evaluated. Now at their one-year anniversary webinar, AMD Senior Vice President and General Manager of Datacenter and Embedded Solutions, Forrest Norrod, reaffirmed that they are going to bring 7nm processors are per scheduled in 2019.

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Named after famous destinations in Italy, the EPYC 1st 'Naples', 2nd 'Rome' and 3rd 'Milan' gen CPUs are and will be available on time to consumers. AMD is saying that they are going to bring higher core count than ever before, more disruptive bandwidth and all of this will be available on existing sockets. So companies who were previously running 1st gen EPYC CPUs can just swap in the latest processors without the need to update platform. In addition to that, we can expect the 7nm+ Zen 3 based EPYC 'Milan' CPUs around 2020. But there's more after Zen 3.

Forrest Nord also mentioned that they are going to bring Zen 4 and Zen 5 architecture based processors in the post-2020 era. There were no details mentioned but it's great to see that AMD is following a long-term roadmap which will make Intel think twice about their own roadmap which includes an entirely next-gen core architecture beyond 2020.

AMD: Rome (7nm Zen 2 Server Platform) Was Designed To Compete Favorably With “Ice Lake” Xeons

For AMD’s first 7nm server family specifically, AMD made assumptions around Intel’s roadmap and what they would do if they were Intel. There’s no mystery about Intel’s next-generation Xeon CPUs as we know that the Skylake-SP (14nm+) chips will be replaced by the upcoming Cascade Lake-SP (14nm++) family. We have quite a few details regarding the Cascade Lake-SP family which you can check out here but Forrest Norrod has some interesting details regarding Rome.

According to him, the AMD 7nm EPYC Rome processors were not designed to compete against the Cascade Lake-SP Xeon family, they were actually designed to compete favorably against Intel’s Ice Lake-SP Xeon processors. You heard it, right folks, AMD’s 2019 CPU family is designed to tackle the Intel 10nm Ice Lake Xeons favorably and things are looking really good for AMD as their Rome CPU family will only be competing against Intel’s 14nm++ server refreshed family, aka Cascade Lake-SP. Intel’s Ice Lake-SP processors based on 10nm process aren’t expected to arrive in the server Xeon space till 2020.

“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. 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. We have reintroduced ourselves to the market, gotten the initial traction and wins, we got the initial customer support, and we validated that AMD is a safe choice with an effective processor. With the Rome processor and process, we are going to be in an incredible position going forward.” via TheNextPlatform

There’s no doubt that AMD made a grand comeback in the server space with their highly disruptive EPYC platform. Returning right on time when Intel was at their most fragile position with little to no progress being made towards the 10nm process development, stagnant IPC evolution and very less impressive feature updates on the server side. Sure Purley platform itself was supposed to deliver a good amount of features to consumers but EPYC made that look like child’s play comparison.

AMD CPU Roadmap (2018-2020)

Ryzen Family Ryzen 1000 Series Ryzen 2000 Series Ryzen 3000 Series Ryzen 4000 Series Ryzen 5000 Series Ryzen 6000 Series Architecture Zen (1) Zen (1) / Zen+ Zen (2) / Zen+ Zen (3) / Zen 2 Zen (3)+ / Zen 3? Zen (4) / Zen 3? Process Node 14nm 14nm / 12nm 7nm 7nm+ / 7nm 7nm+ / 7nm 5nm / 7nm+ Server EPYC 'Naples' EPYC 'Naples' EPYC 'Rome' EPYC 'Milan' EPYC 'Milan' EPYC 'Genoa' Max Server Cores / Threads 32/64 32/64 64/128 64/128 TBD TBD High End Desktop Ryzen Threadripper 1000 Series (White Haven) Ryzen Threadripper 2000 Series (Coflax) Ryzen Threadripper 3000 Series (Castle Peak) Ryzen Threadripper 4000 Series (Genesis Peak) Ryzen Threadripper 5000 Series Ryzen Threadripper 6000 Series Max HEDT Cores / Threads 16/32 32/64 64/128 64/128? TBD TBD Mainstream Desktop Ryzen 1000 Series (Summit Ridge) Ryzen 2000 Series (Pinnacle Ridge) Ryzen 3000 Series (Matisse) Ryzen 4000 Series (Vermeer) Ryzen 5000 Series (Warhol) Ryzen 6000 Series (Raphael) Max Mainstream Cores / Threads 8/16 8/16 16/32 16/32 TBD TBD Budget APU N/A Ryzen 2000 Series (Raven Ridge) Ryzen 3000 Series (Picasso Zen+) Ryzen 4000 Series (Renoir Zen 2) Ryzen 5000 Series (Cezanne Zen 3) Ryzen 5000 Series (Rembrandt Zen 3) Year 2017 2018 2019 2020/2021 2020/2021 2022