AMD’s special Zen CPU event “New Horizon” will go live in just two days from now. The event is scheduled to take place on December 13th and will be hosted by Geoff Keighley, the famous Canadian video game journalist and television presenter. Two days before the event, we already have some insights on one of AMD’s high-end Zen chips. The 16-core Zen CPU, 32 thread Naples part has been pictured in its server enclosure.
If you haven’t heard about Naples yet, too bad! AMD is planning to take on Intel in server space with its top-of-the-line enterprise chip – the next generation Naples. The one spotted is one of the several variants that AMD plans to release. The highest-end chip in this line features 32 cores, 64 thread configuration which is probably the largest core and thread count in x86 CPU history. Intel’s largest server processor ever – the E7-8890 v4 only features 24 cores. AMD’s processor has 8 more cores, which could very well turn out to be a game-changer for AMD.
Naples – A Mini Super-Computer
AMD earlier this year showcased its dual-socket prototype board equipped with two 32 core Naples CPU, featuring 64 cores and 128 threads, making it a mini super-computer. An initial glance at the Naples package reveals that the chip is big, larger than AMD’s Summit Ridge package. Naples comes in LGA (Land Grid Array) configuration. In a LGA, the pins are in the socket and the contacts are on the bottom which is different from another popular configuration – Pin Grid Array.
Naples vs Summit Ridge
One obvious distinction is the number of cores – AMD Summit Ridge has 8 Zen Cores while AMD Naples has 32. With 64 threads, Naples is clearly ahead of Summit Ridge’s 16 cores. L1 Instruction Cache, L1 Data Cache, L2 Cache are similar for both Summit Ridge and Naples. However, it’s the L3 cache where Naples takes the lead. Naples features a whopping 512MB L3 cache, as compared to Summit Ridge’s 16MB. But both these are targeted for different markets, though – Naples is more towards Enterprise and Summit Ridge is for Desktops.
Qualcomm is also planning to take on Intel in the server space. Over the past two years, Qualcomm has been working on building computer server chips and intends to challenge Intel’s stronghold in the server market. With AMD also competing in the server market, it would be interesting to see if Intel will continue to dominate the server market in the years to come.