In recent years, we’ve seen AMD Ryzen processors being used for low-cost servers, budget web hosting platforms, gaming servers, and more. Since the Ryzen 5000 series, we’ve seen companies like ASRock Rack and Supermicro release interesting, affordable Ryzen servers, and that’s only increased as AMD Ryzen 7000 series server performance improves thanks to AVX-512 and other improvements that make it even better, is handy for such workloads. With the introduction of the EPYC 4004 series processors, AMD has now solidified its positioning in entry-level servers. The EPYC 4004 series builds on the Ryzen 7000 series offerings to enable cost-conscious server options and put the Intel Xeon E-2400 series in the crosshairs. In this review, we’ll take a look at the EPYC 4004 series as well as benchmark almost the entire EPYC 4004 product stack compared to Intel’s current top-end Xeon E-2400 series processor, the Intel Xeon E-2488 Raptor Lake.
Due to the increasing popularity of Ryzen for servers in the entry-level computing space and customer demand for more formal server features and certifications, AMD began developing the EPYC 4000 series. This makes a lot of sense and something I’ve wondered myself over the last few years when AMD promoted both EPYC and “Ryzen for Servers” with the mixed branding. The need for the new series also makes sense to secure a larger portion of the entry-level server market, as the EPYC 9004 series scales to just the 16-core EPYC 9124, but most low-core server deployments do not require up to 12 memory channels and the overall cost of the platform is higher for the EPYC 9004 series. With the newer AMD EPYC 8004 “Siena” processors they go back to the 8-core 8024P/8024PN, but again, lower cost servers are unlikely to rely on the six-channel memory, which in turn increases costs. With the AMD EPYC 4004 series, there are now dual-channel memory and CPU options from 4 to 16 cores that are comparable to the Ryzen 7000 series while offering enterprise-class features and support.
The AMD EPYC 4004 series is aimed at customers with the lowest acquisition costs, while the servers/motherboards coming to market for this new class of EPYC processors have enterprise-class features such as BMC, software RAID, server Operating system certifications, ECC memory support, etc. Defining this class of server processors like the EPYC 4000 series, rather than “Ryzen for servers,” clears up the landscape given the wide range of Ryzen desktop/server/workstation motherboards available and other factors. It also makes it easier to search for the EPYC 4004 series when purchasing new servers/motherboards instead of going through a multitude of Ryzen options.
I asked AMD about the future of “Ryzen for servers”: it will continue to exist. For those who aren’t worried about corporate features/ratings and just want to put together a Ryzen server-like box, this ecosystem and new motherboards from partners will continue to exist. One concern I raised in particular was whether the introduction of the EPYC 4000 series could mean the end of Ryzen ECC motherboards… Fortunately, I was told that this will not be the case and motherboard vendors will continue to use Ryzen -ECC server motherboards and similar can offer. AMD understands that there are customers who want this and that it makes economic sense to use Ryzen for servers.
The EPYC 4004 series processors support dual-channel UDIMM memory at up to DDR5-5200 speeds. A total of 192GB of DDR5 memory is supported, compared to 128GB for the Xeon E-2400 series. The new EPYC 4004 SKUs are aligned with their Ryzen 7000 series counterparts. Pricing for the EPYC 4004 series ranges from the EPYC 4124P 4-core processor for $149 to the 16-core EPYC 4564P (equivalent to the Ryzen 9 7950X) for $699. The EPYC 4584PX as a Ryzen 9 7950X3D equivalent with 3D V-Cache is also listed for $699. For example, the list price is the same as the list price of the Ryzen 9 7950 parts, but we’ve seen the Ryzen 7000 series prices drop at retail, where the 7950X3D, for example, retails for around $565. We’ll see how prices evolve, but at least the list prices are similar to the Ryzen 7000 series.
The EPYC 4000-class processors are aimed directly at Intel Xeon E processors. But AMD has the edge when it comes to entry-level server performance. The current flagship Xeon E-2400 Raptor Lake processor is the Xeon E-2488… The Xeon E-2488 is an 8-core/16-thread processor with a 3.2GHz base frequency and 5.6GHz maximum turbo frequency. This 95-watt TDP processor supports up to two channels of DDR5-4800 memory (less than the DDR5-5200 with EPYC 4004) and is derived from Raptor Lake and does not have AVX-512. This flagship 8-core, 16-thread Xeon E-2400 series processor has a list price of $606. The EPYC 4364P is priced at $329 and the EPYC 4364P is priced at $399 for these 8-core parts) and the EPYC 4004 series offers AVX-512 and DDR5-5200 support, and on the list are the 12-core and 16-core options as well as the 3D V-Cache “X” variants. The EPYC 4004 line is quite versatile and more powerful than the current Xeon E-2400 series processors.
Over time, the EPYC 4000 family could gain more features that better differentiate it from the Ryzen parts in future generations. However, the AMD EPYC 4004 family already has a lot of potential to take on the Intel Xeon E-class servers.
I’ve been testing the AMD EPYC 4004 series processors for several weeks and want to release lots of benchmarks in time for launch day. Many thanks to AMD for providing all of the EPYC 4004 processors, as well as Supermicro for providing two of their new EPYC 4004 series platforms… Now let’s look at some EPYC 4004 hardware and benchmarks.