AMD wins the Supercomputer race with its EPYC processors

This space was always a strong side for Intel, and OEMs preferred Intel processors, while AMD was not in the scene for quite some time. The first iteration of EPYC chips was good but not ground-breaking compared to Intel; the next 7nm based Zen 2 chips did make a lot of noise in the server market.

Yes, EPYC Rome processors did create some records, and the price to performance per socket was enormous compared to Intel. OEMs loved new AMD EPYC processors, and big cloud service providers like Google Cloud, AWS, Microsoft Azure and others have already started using EPYC Rome chips.

Meanwhile, with the launch of 3rd Generation EPYC processors, aka Milan, based on Zen 3, AMD has managed to pull a record number of OEMs and partners to use their own chips. New Supercomputers with AMD chips are repeatedly breaking new records, and more of these high-performance computing machines announced with AMD processors.

Now, thanks to STH, we have an estimate of how many supercomputers are built with AMD or Intel chips. Most of the new machines built to use these AMD EPYC chips inside them, whether Zen 2 based Rome processors or Zen 3 based Milan processors.

As per the Top500 New System CPU Architecture Trends, AMD now holds 59% of the new supercomputers built, while Intel owning 41%. While at the start of 2021, the AMD EPYC 7002 series “Rome” and Intel Xeon Scalable “Cascade Lake” series CPUs were the most used, but by June 2021, newer Milan and Ice Lake processors have entered the game.

It is worth noting that in the November 2020 analysis, STH noted a relatively high number of older CPUs, mostly Intel ones and then excluding the pre-2018 x86 “new” systems, Intel as much as twice the number of new systems as AMD. So, you can understand that to take the lead ahead of Intel in the June 2021 Top500 list’s new systems, AMD sold many EPYC chips to leap.

This shows that the server market has officially shifted away from Intel dominance, and OEMs, makers, and consumers prefer AMD for its high-performing cores. Also, maintaining or upgrading AMD powered servers is easier than upgrading everything when you upgrade with new Intel chips.

So, those high-end consumers who look forward to being loyal to AMD are awarded even generation of AMD EPYC chips. Even the next-gen EPYC Genoa processors would be compatible with old motherboards. If you go by raw numbers, you see many new supercomputers built using EPYC Rome chips, followed by Intel’s Cascade Lake.

Now, Ice Lake is gaining popularity over AMD EPYC Milan, but it is clear the server market is not a place for Intel’s dominance anymore. It will be interesting to see how this trend goes in the next few months, but the rivalry will be fierce this time, for sure!

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