[Info-vax] New AMD Chip Architecture Review

[IanD]

AMD line up from bottom up is

i3 < i5 < i7 < threadripper < EPYC

Threadripper is just 2 CPUs at this stage, a 16 core / 32 thread model that can address 1 TB ram using 4 channels with 64 PCIe lanes at a cost of $999 and the 12 core / 24 thread model coming in at $799

These are price disruptive and half the cost of the Intel equivalent

Intel are somewhat rattled. They have departed from tradition and have been attacking AMD in their own info. releases lately, even resorting to almost childish comments about AMD being just 4 desktop CPUs bolted together and lacking an eco system and claiming AMD will take years to perfect their offerings etc etc etc. Intel have traditionally ignored or refused to comment on the competition but have departed from this now

Intel have also been caught trying to compare disparate CPU offerings in an attempt to skew performance.

At the end of the day, AMD and their EPYC  server offering looks very good and is price disruptive and looks to be even more market disruptive than Optron was years ago that are into Intel's profits

Personally, my interest is in the 16 core threadripper CPU but until I see motherboard pricing etc it may just remain a dream. As to wether VMS is going to run on this CPU is also a dream

At the rate that DC's churn over hardware compared to before, I'm thinking AMD will make inroads into the DC again, especially with CPU pricing that's disruptive. The expectation with cheaper CPU pricing is for cheaper motherboards and cheaper everything down the stack

AMD are also cleaning up in the GPU space with some very efficient GPUs that are in high demand. Crypto miners are snapping then up, driving up the cost of these GPUs

Intel have been caught out trickle feeding the market with mere incremental improvements. Nice to see them being forced to correct their lackluster offerings IMO

The manufacturing technique AMD are using to literally stich their CPUs together means much cheaper fabrication, this is why they are able to stick it to Intel on pricing

Everything, not just IT seems to be moving towards disruptive technologies gaining rapid market share. Uber, Airbnb etc. How can VMS become market disruptive I wonder?