Test Methodology
Server Processor Configurations |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU |
AMD Epyc 7713 |
AMD Epyc 75F3 |
Intel Xeon Platinum 8380 | Intel Xeon Platinum 8280 |
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| Codename | Milan |
Milan |
Ice Lake |
Cascade Lake Refresh |
||
| CPU Base Clock | 2.0GHz |
2.95GHz |
2.3GHz |
2.70GHz |
||
| CPU Turbo Clock | 3.675GHz |
4.0GHz |
3.4GHz |
4.0GHz |
||
| CPU L3 Cache | 256MB |
256MB |
60MB |
38.5MB |
||
| CPU Cores / Threads | 64 / 128 |
32 / 64 |
40 / 80 |
28 / 56 |
||
| CPU TDP | 225W |
280W |
270W |
205W |
||
| Test Configuration | 2P |
2P |
2P |
2P |
||
| Socket | SP3 |
LGA 4167 |
LGA 3647 |
|||
| Lithography | 7nm |
10nm |
14nm |
|||
| Motherboard | AMD Daytona Reference |
Intel Coyote Pass Reference |
Intel Reference |
|||
| Memory | Micron 512GB |
SK hynix 512GB |
Micron 384GB |
|||
| Memory Config | 16x32GB - 2DPC |
16x32 2DPC |
12x32GB 2DPC |
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| Memory Speed | 3,200MHz |
3,200MHz |
2,933MHz |
|||
| Disk Drive | Micron 256GB 1100 SATA SSD 6x Micron 9300 3.84GB NVMe |
Intel Optane P5800X 800GB |
||||
| Power Supply | 2x 1,200W Redundant Configuration |
2,100W |
1,200W |
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| Operating System | Ubuntu 20.04.2 |
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Benchmark Suite |
|
|---|---|
| STREAM Memory 1.3.1 | Used to evaluate bandwidth using optimised compilers for both platforms. |
| NAMD 1.0.1 | NAMD is a parallel molecular dynamics code designed for high-performance simulation of large biomolecular systems. |
| OpenSSL 1.11.0 | The test measures the RSA 4096-bit performance of OpenSSL. |
| Linux Kernel Compilation 1.9.1 | This test times how long it takes to build the Linux kernel in a default configuration. |
| Redis 1.10 | Redis is an open-source in-memory data structure store, used as a database, cache, and message broker. |
| POV-RAY 1.21 | POV-Ray is used to create 3D graphics using ray-tracing. |
| m-queens 1.10 | A solver for the N-queens problem with multi-threading support via the OpenMP library. |
| JTR Blowfish 1.70 | A password-cracking test using brute CPU strength. |
| C-Ray 1.2.0 | A simple raytracer designed to test the floating-point CPU multithreaded performance. |
Notes
We have updated Ubuntu to 20.04.2 LTS, featuring Linux 5.8, to better reflect performance on a newer build. With that being the case, we have benchmarked the Intel Xeon Platinum 8380 against its direct predecessor, Xeon Platinum 8280, and also rebenchmarked AMD's third-generation Epyc 7713 (64C128T) and high-frequency 75F3 (32C64T) processors. All were tested in a 2P formation.
It is incredibly difficult to test server processor performance without having access to racks upon racks, to reflect real-world use where networking, memory infrastructure and heavily-tuned software play pivotal parts in defining overall speed and service-level agreement parameters. Customers wanting to purchase a significant volume will likely evaluate these chips in their own environment, on their own software, but we don't have that luxury.
Appreciating we're looking at compute throughput first and foremost, mostly in isolation, we use a subset of the excellent Phoronix Test Suite to measure server performance. It ought to provide a glimpse into how far Intel has come from one generation to the next and also offer insight into comparative performance against AMD's latest.
