AMD unveils its third-gen EPYC server CPUs with Zen 3 cores

Render of a third-generation Epyc processor with text labelling as the fastest in the world

As the company had announced a few days ago, AMD today took the wraps off the third generation of EPYC CPUs, geared towards the server market. These are the first EPYC processors based on the Zen 3 core architecture that debuted with the Ryzen 5000 series, and they promise up to a 19% increase in instructions per clock compared to the previous generation.

The lineup includes processors with anywhere from eight to 64 cores, and between 16 and 128 threads, and they include support for things like 4-6-8 channel memory interleaving. AMD is claiming to have the highest performing server CPU - the 64-core EPYC 7763 - as well as the highest performance per core, though that refers to the eight-core EPYC 72F3 in a dual-socket system.

Performance comparisons between third-generation Epyc processors and Intel Cascade Lake

AMD shared some performance numbers comparing its lineup to Intel offerings, which show that AMD is ahead in performance in multiple categories, though it's worth noting that the CPUs used in each of the comparisons don't cost the same. For example, the Intel Xeon Gold 6258R costs $3,950 (based on thousand-unit purchases) compared to the $4,860 for the AMD EPYC 75F3 used in the fourth comparison.

Here's the full lineup of EPYC 7003 processors:

AMD highlighted a number of partners, specifically in the cloud market, including Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, AWS, and Tencent Cloud, which are all planning to start deploying third-generation EPYC processors. You can learn more about EPYC processors on AMD's website.