AMD EPYC 4004 Benchmarks: Outperforming Intel Xeon E-2400 With Performance, Efficiency & Value
While many benchmarks were shown in this article, this isn't even all of them that I carried out for the launch-day testing. Those interested in seeing more than 360 benchmarks carried out on each of the processors can see my OpenBenchmarking.org result page for all of my data. From there is also all of the per-test power, performance-per-dollar, peak CPU frequency, and related metrics.
When taking the geometric mean of all 360+ raw performance benchmark results, the Xeon E-2488 was similar to the 6-core EPYC 4244P processor. Ouch for Intel, considering the Xeon E-2488 is an 8-core processor with a list price of $606 USD. Meanwhile the EPYC 4244P has a $229 list price. The top-end EPYC 4564P/4584PX processors were delivering around 1.81x the performance of the Xeon E-2488 flagship while costing only 1.15x the price of that Xeon Raptor Lake CPU.
Here is a look at the CPU power consumption over the entire span of benchmarks carried out. The Xeon E-2488 had an average CPU package power consumption of 89 Watts with a peak of 198 Watts. Meanwhile the EPYC 4344P 8-core processor had a 75 Watt average with a 92 Watt peak and the EPYC 4364P had a 105 Watt average and 145 Watt peak. The EPYC 4484PX is the real sweet spot for those wanting to maximize power efficiency within the EPYC 4004 line-up while having stellar performance. Even the EPYC 4564P looks good overall for power draw and its peak was just a few Watts higher than the Xeon E-2488.
Next is the AC wall power consumption for these servers. The Xeon E-2488 server had a 138 Watt average and a peak of 338 Watts, which was higher than even the EPYC 4564P server configuration peaking at 301 Watts. Again, the EPYC 4584PX is the most interesting for delivering great 16-core performance, the 3D V-Cache helping out in some workloads, and the power efficiency boost over the EPYC 4564P.
When looking at the CPU peak frequency over the course of all the benchmarks carried out, the Xeon E-2488 tended to have a peak frequency of about 4.46GHz with a 5.6GHz peak -- a higher peak of peaks than the EPYC processors. But in general the EPYC 4004 series were tending to observe a peak CPU frequency during testing in the 4.7~5.1GHz range. The higher peak frequencies on average also show why in part for a number of the benchmarks the 8-core EPYC 4364P / 4344P processors were delivering faster performance than the Xeon E-2488 Raptor Lake.
👁 AMD EPYC 4004 series processors
The EPYC 4004 series is a home-run, total knockout, or whatever you want to call it for this new entry-level EPYC Zen 4 line-up obliterating the Xeon E-2400 competition... The top-end Xeon E-2488 only has half the core/thread count of the EPYC 4564P / EPYC 4584PX SKUs, the Raptor Lake Xeons do not boast any AVX-512 support, the Xeon E-2400 lack any options akin to AMD's "PX" SKUs with 3D V-Cache, and the EPYC 4004 series was consistently delivering better value and power efficiency. In some extreme cases that top-end Xeon E-2400 series processor even was outperformed by the 6-core EPYC 4244P processor.
In addition to the value proposition of the EPYC 4004 family, these processors are also ideal for frequency-sensitive workloads that may not be so well threaded or not having the need to scale to high thread counts. With the EPYC 9124 16-core processor there is a maximum boost clock of 3.7GHz and a base clock of 3.0GHz. With the EPYC 8124P is a 2.45GHz base clock and 3.0GHz boost clock. Meanwhile with the 16-core EPYC 4564P is a 4.5GHz base clock and 5.7GHz boost clock or with the 16-core 3D V-Cache EPYC 4584PX is the 4.2GHz base clock and same 5.7GHz boost clock. Similarly the EPYC 4344P/4364P processors have significant frequency advantages over the EPYC 8024P(N) processors. The EPYC 8004/9004 series at the low core counts still have their place though for memory sensitive workloads thanks to the additional memory channels (6 with Siena or 12 with Genoa(X) / Bergamo) or for later upgrades to higher core count options.
Another notable aspect with the EPYC 4004 line-up is the continued consistent ISA across the EPYC 8004 and 9004 series processors. Besides AVX-512 being universally supported across all Zen 4(C) based products, the rest of the ISA remains the same across the Ryzen/EPYC products that makes for simplicity in compiler tuning and enablement and other reduced concerns compared to Intel's differing P and E core capabilities creating an ISA jungle between products and now even more so with their server processors. It's beautiful the same Zen 4 optimized binaries can run from the newest Ryzen mobile laptops, desktops / workstations, and up through several tiers of AMD server processors. That's especially valuable for developers that may be doing development/tuning/profiling/testing from a Ryzen laptop or Ryzen/Threadripper workstation and then ultimately deploying to EPYC servers or the cloud.
When first hearing of the EPYC 4004 series I was a bit apprehensive thinking that they were going to be overpriced Ryzen CPUs renamed. I was surprised and happy when seeing the list prices matching that of the Ryzen 7000 series. The Ryzen 7000 series CPUs are often selling for under list price now but even at list price the EPYC 4004 series remains competitive: the EPYC 4564P and 4854PX are listed for just $699 USD compared to the Xeon E-2488 at $606 while having much lower performance.
The other concern I initially had was that the EPYC 4000 class processors could spell the end of "Ryzen for Server" to which I'm glad will not be the case for those not interested in enterprise features/certifications. And in particular, ECC support for Ryzen processors will remain, I am told. It will also be interesting to see how EPYC 4000 class processors are handled in the future if they will arrive closer to the launch time of the Ryzen parts or be further out: like now being so close to Zen 5.
Speaking of Ryzen for Server and EPYC, you may be wondering... What happens if trying to install an EPYC 4004 in an existing AM5 consumer motherboard? Or a Ryzen CPU in a new EPYC 4004 motherboard? Given the platform commonality and same AGESA, it does work but is not officially supported.
The EPYC 4004 series for now means BMC, RAID, server OS certifications, and other features/certifications over Ryzen while it will be interesting to see what other features they may tack on in future EPYC 4000 level processors. These features make the EPYC 4000 series very appealing for budget dedicated hosting, small businesses, cost effective CI/CD workflows, and other cases where 16 cores or less is suitable and desiring power efficient performance and are aiming to maximize value. This EPYC 4000 series branding should make it easier for those to find lower-cost workstation/server-grade hardware moving forward rather than having to sort through the vast array of Ryzen motherboards/servers available if trying to find those supporting ECC unbuffered memory, BMC capabilities, etc, to sum it up now as searching for an EPYC 4000 series server/motherboard.
Thanks again to AMD for providing the EPYC 4004 hardware to make this launch-day testing possible. Stay tuned in the coming days for the EPYC 4124P benchmarks as well as other follow-up EPYC 4004 series performance tests over the coming days and weeks.
If you enjoyed this article consider joining Phoronix Premium to view this site ad-free, multi-page articles on a single page, and other benefits. PayPal or Stripe tips are also graciously accepted. Thanks for your support.