The numbers for AMD’s Epyc Genoa-X processors are out, and the verdict is clear. These 3D V-Cache chips absolutely annihilate their Intel Xeon rivals, HBM or not. Thanks to 1GB of 3D stacked L3 cache and up to 96 cores working in tandem, the Zen 4 3D chips deliver up to 85% more performance in a lower power envelope. Tests conducted by Phoronix place a pair of Epyc 9684X chips miles ahead of their Intel Sapphire Rapids rivals.
On average, the Epyc 9684X duo is a whopping 85% faster than a Xeon Platinum 8490H pair across a series of benchmarks. Even the Xeon Max 9480 pair with on-die HBM fails to compete with the Epyc Genoa-X flagship, falling short with nearly half as many points.
The Epyc 9684X combo registers an average power consumption of 489W which increases to 585W with the cTDP set to 400W. That’s roughly the same as its Xeon Sapphire Rapids rivals. The Xeon Max 9480 2P (HBM Only) averages 598W despite being only half as fast. The Xeon Platinum 8490H 2P posts an average of 538W.
The Xeon Max 9480 HBM may look like a complete flop, but it does quite well in a small subset of workloads. The primary shortcoming of this chip is the limited amount of HBM2e (64GB) per socket. You either need more memory per core or programs tailored for this particular configuration to truly justify this chip.
Genoa’s high core count (96) alongside the closely positioned 3D V-Cache (1GB) offers better performance and efficiency in most mainstream workloads. The Xeon Max does wonders in workloads that can fit within its on-die HBM, most notably those with matrix instructions but these programs are still far from mature.
