AMD releases cheaper Epyc processor with 64 cores

AMD releases two new Epyc processors. The Epyc 7662 is AMD’s fifth server processor with 64 cores and according to the manufacturer the cheapest yet. AMD also comes with the Epyc 7532, a processor with 32 cores that has just as much L3 cache as the CPUs with 64 cores.

AMD does not say what the Epyc 7662 will cost, but according to the manufacturer, the new 64-core processor is cheaper than the other models with the same number of cores. The new processor has a TDP of 225W, but slightly lower clock speeds than the more expensive Epyc 7742, which has the same TDP.

The clock speeds of the Epyc 7662 are comparable to those of the Epyc 7702; that is a more economical version with a tdp of 180W. AMD probably uses chips that perform less well for the cheaper model, so that the tdp is higher.

The Epyc 7662 is not a P model and so it is possible to combine some of the processors in motherboards with more than one socket. AMD previously released the 7702P. That was the cheapest Epyc processor with 64 cores to date. That P variant is only suitable for single socket motherboards.

AMD also announced the Epyc 7532, a server processor with 32 cores and 256MB L3 cache. The cache memory is therefore the same as with the 64-core processors and twice as large as with the existing 32-core processors in the Epyc 7000 series. According to AMD, this new model is very suitable for workloads such as Ansys CFX, which require a lot of cache memory. AMD also made a 48-core version that has 256MB of L3 cache.

Dell and Supermicro are the first manufacturers to use the two new Epyc processors in their products. The chips are available immediately in several Dell EMC PowerEdge servers and in all Supermicro A+ servers. HPE and Lenovo will release servers with the new Epyc CPUs in the coming months.