AMD Ryzen to the SMB Occasion with EPYC 4005 Series
The House of Zen’s low-end enterprise strategy is badge engineering at its best
AMD has launched its Epyc 4005-series CPUs, bringing the Zen 5 refresh to the small and medium-sized business (SMB) market. These processors aim to provide a cost-effective solution for SMBs, branch offices, and dedicated hosting providers who don't require the full capabilities of traditional datacenter chips.
According to Dennis McQueen, product marketing manager for AMD Server solutions group, the Epyc 4005 series is a repackaged, right-sized, and appropriately priced product line designed to better serve the SMB and dedicated hosting space.
These new Epycs are essentially rebadged Ryzen 9000-series desktop chips, featuring the same core complex (CCD) and I/O dies. They support up to 16 cores, 32 threads, and 192GB of DDR5 memory, and use the same AM5 socket as their consumer counterparts.
Key Features of the EPYC 4005 Series
- Based on Zen 5 architecture
- Up to 16 cores and 32 threads
- Supports up to 192GB DDR5 memory
- Uses AM5 socket
Here's a detailed look at the Epyc 4005 SKUs:
| Epyc 4005-Series | Cores / Threads | L3 Cache | TDP | Base Clock | Max Boost | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4565P | 16C / 32T | 64 | 170 | 4.3GHz | 5.7GHz | $589 |
| 4545P | 16C / 32T | 64 | 65 | 3.0GHz | 5.4GHz | $549 |
| 4465P | 12C / 24T | 64 | 65 | 3.4GHz | 5.4GHz | $399 |
| 4345P | 8C / 16T | 32 | 65 | 3.8GHz | 5.5GHz | $329 |
| 4245P | 6C / 12T | 32 | 65 | 3.9GHz | 5.4GHz | $239 |
| 4585PX | 16C / 32T | 128 | 170 | 4.3GHz | 5.7GHz | $699 |
Despite being physically similar to Ryzen chips, the Epyc 4005 series undergoes more rigorous testing and validation for 24/7 operation, according to AMD.
Greg Gibby, senior product marketing manager for AMD's datacenter division, stated that these chips are validated for server OSs, offer software RAID support, and undergo additional lifecycle testing.
Performance and Advantages
The Zen 5 architecture offers a 16% uplift in instructions per clock (IPC) and reworked AVX-512 vector extensions. The Zen 5 cores now feature a 512-bit data path, providing higher performance compared to the double-pumped 256-bit approach in Zen 4. This is beneficial for workloads like light machine learning (OCR, image recognition) and vector databases.
Compared to Intel's entry-level Xeon E-2400 and 6300P platforms, AMD's Epyc 4005 series offers:
- More cores
- Higher base clocks
- Larger L3 cache
- More PCIe lanes
- Support for more and faster memory
AMD claims its 8-core Epyc 4345P outperforms Intel's Xeon 6369P by 1.38x in the Phoronix Test Suite. The top-spec Epyc 4565P provides a 1.83x advantage due to its higher core count. AMD also claims its 4005-series parts are 16% to 83% faster than equivalent Intel 6300P Xeons.
Compromises
Using consumer CPUs in server platforms involves compromises, particularly in I/O and memory-intensive applications.
The I/O die on the consumer platform is reduced compared to AMD's higher-end Epyc Turin platform. The Epyc 4005 series is limited to 28 lanes and 2 channels of DDR5 5600 MT/s, while Epyc Turin supports up to 128 lanes of PCIe 5.0 and 12 channels of DDR5 6400 MT/s. ECC memory is supported, but only with unbuffered DIMMs.
Therefore, while the Epyc 4005 series may offer sufficient cores, it might lack the necessary bandwidth or connectivity for applications like NVMe storage servers.
Additional PCIe connectivity can be obtained through the motherboard chipset, but this typically requires stepping down from PCIe 5.0 to 4.0 speeds.
Target Market and Availability
The AMD Epyc 4005-series processors are available now. Infrastructure-as-a-service providers like OVHcloud and Vultr plan to offer instances or dedicated hosting based on these chips.
Summary of AMD EPYC 4005 Series
The AMD EPYC 4005 series offers a compelling option for SMBs and dedicated hosting providers seeking a balance of performance and cost-effectiveness. Based on the Zen 5 architecture and offering competitive performance against Intel's entry-level Xeons, these processors provide a solid foundation for various server workloads. However, potential compromises in I/O and memory capabilities should be considered when evaluating their suitability for specific applications.
