AMD Epyc 4005: Six processors for small servers with ECC RAM

Not quite a year after the Epyc 4004, AMD is launching the successor generation Epyc 4005, codenamed Grado. Like their predecessors, the smallest Epycs are basically based on the desktop technology of the Ryzen 9000 processors and a version with 3D V-Cache is also included.

However, the model range has been streamlined somewhat and there are now only six different models instead of eight: three 16-core models as well as one 12-core, one 8-core and one 6-core model.

The Thermal Design Power (TDP) is still a maximum of 170 watts, while the smaller models can only consume 65 watts (see table). They have 28 PCI Express 5.0 lanes for the peripherals and are flanked by up to 192 GByte ECC memory – 256 GByte with four of the new 64 GByte modules are still in the validation phase.

AMD has increased the permitted memory speed from DDR5-5200 to DDR5-5600; however, this only applies as long as a maximum of one module per channel is inserted. With more than two modules, as required for capacities above 128 GB at the latest, the speed level drops to DDR5-3600.

As with the Epyc 4004, the features are identical to the underlying desktop platform of the Ryzen 9000: integrated graphics including modern video acceleration functions as well as HDMI and Displayport output if you want to maintain the servers locally, plus up to 20 Gbit/s fast USB-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2x2).

AMD is also not too shy to include the buzzword "AI" in the Epyc 4005: The chips are said to be suitable for this thanks to their 512-bit wide AVX data path. This can also be loaded with instruction bundles of lower precision, which are common in AI applications, so that up to twice as many instructions can be processed in parallel as with normal AVX2 units in comparable Intel CPUs. However, the Epyc 4005 does not have a dedicated AI unit ("NPU").

The upcoming boards for the Epyc 4005 will often also have a remote maintenance chip installed; however, the small Epycs will not initially run on desktop AM5 boards, as AMD revealed.

Market for small servers is growing

Small and medium-sized companies as well as providers of dedicated hosting services are the target group for the Epyc 4005. According to AMD, the Epyc 4004 was developed for a large European hoster, and other manufacturers and hosts are now sniffing the air in this market. According to AMD, Windows Server is comparatively widespread as an operating system in this market sector and allows a maximum of 16 cores in its standard license – above which the data center edition costs many times more in license fees.

Lenovo, Supermicro, Asrock Rack, Gigabyte, International Computer Concepts, Mitac and MSI will initially offer systems with Epyc 4005. In addition to Hetzner, Ionos and OVHcloud, Fiberhubm, Mevspace, Quantumcore, Scaleway, Servermania, Servetheworld and webtropia.com are also named as hosters.

Compared to Intel's Xeon processors, the new Epyc 4005s are said to be up to 83 percent faster in the case of the sixteen-core 4565P, according to AMD's unverified measurements using the Phoronix Test Suite. Even the smallest new Epyc 4245P with six cores is said to be 16 percent faster than Intel's eight-core Xeon 6369P (Raptor Lake). Compared to its predecessor, the Epyc 4004, the 16-core 4565P is said to be up to 18 percent faster, while the new 6-core is almost four percent faster than the old 8-core 4364P.

There will not be a super-cheap quad-core model like the Epyc 4004 in the 4005 range, but according to AMD, the old generation will still be available.

AMD Epyc 4005 for small servers (1P): Model overview
Epyc …	Cores / Threads	Base clock	max. Turbo	L3-Cache	TDP	Memory speed1	Price2
4585PX	16 / 32	4,3 GHz	5,7 GHz	128 MByte	170 watts	DDR5-5600	699 US-$
Models without 3D VCache
4565P	16 / 32	4,3 GHz	5,7 GHz	64 MByte	170 watts	DDR5-5600	589 US-$
4545P	16 / 32	3,0 GHz	5,4 GHz	64 MByte	65 watts	DDR5-5600	549 US-$
4465P	12 / 24	3,4 GHz	5,4 GHz	64 MByte	65 watts	DDR5-5600	399 US-$
4345P	8 / 16	3,8 GHz	5,5 GHz	32 MByte	65 watts	DDR5-5600	329 US-$
4245P	6 /12	3,9 GHz	5,4 GHz	32 MByte	65 watts	DDR5-5600	239 US-$
1 DDR5-3600 with 2 DIMMs per channel 2 Wholesale price plus taxes

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