AMD EPYC, what do the acronyms mean?

When establishing a project, the name to be assigned requires a considerable mental effort, if you want to make a good impression. If we talk about server processors then, the situation becomes even more complicated (just take a look at the names of the server CPUs from AMD and Intel). It has to be "cool", sound good, easy to remember, understandable ... well, maybe the last feature AMD didn't hit right, since it was necessary to elaborate a slide (for which we thank Twitter user ExecutableFix and VideoCardz .com for reporting it) which explains the meaning of the name of their AMD EPYCs.

The new generation, identified with the code name "Milan", is based on a Zen 3 architecture and, according to SKU, will allow to reach frequencies up to 200 MHz higher than the previous generation (Zen 2 architecture, codenamed “Rome”). In the table we find all the possible configurations with the relative technical specifications.

SKU Core / Thread Base clock Clock with boost Cache L3 TDP EPYC 7763 64/128 2.45 GHz 3.5 GHz 256 MB 280 W EPYC 7713 (P) 64/128 2.0 GHz 3.675 GHz 256 MB 225 W EPYC 7643 48/96 2.3 GHz 3.6 GHz 256 MB 225 W EPYC 75F3 32/64 2.95 GHz 4.0 GHz 256 MB 280 W EPYC 7543 (P) 32/64 2.8 GHz 3.7 GHz 256 MB 225 W EPYC 7513 32/64 2.6 GHz 3.65 GHz 128 MB 200 W EPYC 74F3 24/48 3.2 GHz 4.0 GHz 256 MB 240 W EPYC 7443 (P) 24/48 2.85 GHz 4.0 GHz 128 MB 200 W EPYC 7413 24/48 2.65 GHz 3.6 GHz 128 MB 180 W EPYC 73F3 16/32 3.5 GHz 4.0 GHz 256 MB 240 W EPYC 7343 16/32 3.2 GHz 3.9 GHz 128 MB 190 W EPYC 7313 (P) 16/32 3.0 GHz 3.7 GHz 128 MB 155 W EPYC 72F3 8/16 3.7 GHz 4.1 GHz 256 MB 180 W Using the slide, we can orient ourselves between the meaning of letters and numbers that make up the processor code:

First digit: processor series (7001 “Naples” series, 7002 “Rome” series, 7003 “Milan” series). Second digit: number of processor cores. In this case "2" refers to an 8 core, while "3" refers to a 16 core. The situation changes with "4" which indicates a range between 24 and 28 cores, and the "6" between 40 and 46 cores. The "5" instead refers to a 32 core, the "7" to a 64 core (maximum configuration). Thanks so much for the clarity AMD, seriously. Third digit / letter: SKU performance target. “1” stands for value-oriented, while “4” and “6” push more on performance. You can also find the letter “F”, which indicates EPYC CPUs with high performance cores. Fourth digit: CPU generation. It could happen to find also the letter "P" at the end, that is in the case of processors created specifically for single-socket systems.

From the benchmarks presented at CES 2021, it appears that the new AMD EPYC range would have superior performance 68% compared to Intel Xeon 6258 (launched in the first quarter of 2020). An apparently strong and decisive response from AMD, but we will have to wait until March to see if the real performance will be what it promised.

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