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AMD Looks To 'Crush' Intel's Xeon With New Epyc Server Chips (extremetech.com)
AMD has unveiled the first generation of Epyc, its new range of server processors built around its Zen architecture. Processors will range from the Epyc 7251 -- an eight-core, 16-thread chip running at 2.1 to 2.9GHz in a 120W power envelope -- up to the Epyc 7601: a 32-core, 64-thread monster running at 2.2 to 3.2GHz, with a 180W design power. From a report: These chips are built on the same fundamental architecture as the company's Ryzen CPU cores, and they're aimed at the incredibly powerful data center market. AMD's 32-core / 64-thread Epyc CPUs combine four eight-core dies, each connected to the other via the company's Infinity Fabric. According to AMD, this approach is significantly cheaper than trying to pack 32 cores into a single monolithic die -- that approach would leave the company potentially throwing away huge amounts of silicon during its production ramp. The Infinity Fabric is deliberately over-provisioned to minimize any problems with non-NUMA aware software, according to Anandtech. Each 32-core Epyc CPU will support eight memory channels and two DIMMs per channel, for a total maximum memory capacity of 2TB per socket, or 4TB of RAM in a two-socket system. Each CPU will also offer 128 lanes of PCI Express 3.0 support -- enough to connect up to six GPUs at x16 each with room left over for I/O support. That's in a one-socket system, mind you. In a two-socket system, the total number of available PCI Express 3.0 lanes is unchanged, at 128 (64 PCIe 3.0 lanes are used to handle CPU -- CPU communication). Anandtech has a longer writeup with more details on the CPUs power efficiency and TDP scaling. Further reading: ZDNet, press release.
This is just dripping with FUD. Several big players in the server market have already announced they'll be shipping products with AMD's CPUs. If you couldn't find any server CPUs from AMD in the recent past its because they didn't bother making any after a point because their Bulldozer architecture was so much of a failure that they left that part of the market. Just look at the Wikipedia article that lists their server chips and notice that the pretty much stopped after 2012 outside of a few ARM or Jaguar-based parts that were for micro-servers.
Also, the last time AMD put a dent into Intel, Intel started fighting back in a large number of ways that were later found to be illegal. Celebrate and relax, indeed.
Who knows what Intel might have in their back pocket after chilling around for half a decade?
Haven't we already seen some indication that Intel's been caught flat footed? Their response to Ryzen has been strange and erratic with confusing product launches (or at least announcements...) the tech media is still trying to untangle, $1500+ 175W i9s that hardly anyone will buy and other bad ideas.
I expect their marketing people will sperg out and invent some bizarre new name for embiggened chips based on existing process tech and blow a few million on the "launch event."
The fact is AMD has caught up. So now there is competition and Intel has to compete. If Intel does have anything "in their back pocket" they'll have to use it to hold the market share they've earned. If not then they'll have to compete on price etc. It's all good. We win either way.
Yes, but only to maintain, but not eliminate AMD.
You see, Intel's goal is to keep AMD where they are. They WANT AMD to have a foothold in the server market where the money is. But not too big a foothold.
For Intel, AMD"s position is perfect - they are the distant second and will nip at the heels like an eager puppy. Which is where Intel wants them. Too powerful and they have competition, too weak and AMD could die off and unleash all sorts of government investigations, regulations, anti-monopoly rulings and other things. Worse yet, AMD's patents that are cross-licensed with Intel might go to ARM or others forcing Intel to pay or cross-license.
So Intel needs AMD to be around, but not too powerful nor too weak. They could crush AMD with what they have, but they won't, so they just need to deploy "just enough" to counter the threat without actually harming AMD.