AMD EPYC 4004 Benchmarks: Outperforming Intel Xeon E-2400 With Performance, Efficiency & Value

Over the past several years we have seen AMD Ryzen processors being used for low-cost servers, budget web hosting platforms, game servers, and more. Since the Ryzen 5000 series we have seen the likes of ASRock Rack and Supermicro putting out interesting budget-friendly Ryzen servers and that has ramped up even more with AMD Ryzen 7000 series server performance being stellar thanks to AVX-512 and other improvements making it more practical for such workloads. AMD has now solidified its positioning for entry-level servers with the introduction of the EPYC 4004 series processors. The EPYC 4004 series is derived from the Ryzen 7000 series offerings to facilitate cost conscious server options and putting the Intel Xeon E-2400 series in the crosshairs. In this review is a look at the EPYC 4004 series along with benchmarks of nearly the entire EPYC 4004 product stack compared to Intel's current top-end Xeon E-2400 series processor, the Intel Xeon E-2488 Raptor Lake.

Stemming from the increasing popularity of Ryzen for servers in the entry level compute space and customers expressing need for more formal server capabilities and certifications, AMD took to creating the EPYC 4000 series. It makes a lot of sense and something I had wondered myself in recent years with AMD promoting both EPYC and then "Ryzen for servers" with the mixed branding. The need for the new series also makes sense for securing more of the entry-level server market with the EPYC 9004 series scaling down to just the EPYC 9124 with 16-cores but most low core count server deployments not needing up to 12 channels of memory and overall platform costs being greater with the EPYC 9004 series. With the newer AMD EPYC 8004 "Siena" processors they go down to the 8-core 8024P/8024PN but again lower-cost servers likely not needing the six channel memory and in turn costs costs being in excess. Now with the AMD EPYC 4004 series, there is dual channel memory and CPU options ranging from 4 to 16 cores being inline with the Ryzen 7000 series while having enterprise-class features and support.

The AMD EPYC 4004 series caters to lowest acquisition cost customers while the servers/motherboards coming to market for this new class of EPYC processors will sport enterprise-class features such as BMC, software RAID, server OS certifications, ECC memory support, etc. Defining this class of server processors as the EPYC 4000 series rather than "Ryzen for servers" clears up the landscape given the wide range of Ryzen desktop/server/workstation motherboards available and other factors. It also makes for an easier time in acquisition of new servers/motherboards in searching for the EPYC 4004 series rather than going through a diverse range of Ryzen options.

I did ask AMD about the future of "Ryzen for servers": it will continue to exist. For those not concerned about enterprise features/ratings and just looking to assemble a Ryzen server-like box, there will continue to be that ecosystem and new motherboards from partners. In particular one concern I raised was whether the EPYC 4000 series introduction could spell the end of Ryzen ECC motherboards... Thankfully, I am told, that will not be the case and motherboard vendors can continue offering Ryzen ECC server motherboards and similar. AMD acknowledges there are customers that want it and it makes business sense having Ryzen for servers.

EPYC 4004 series processors support dual-channel UDIMM memory up to DDR5-5200 speeds. A maximum of 192GB of DDR5 memory is supported in total, compared to the Xeon E-2400 series at 128GB. The new EPYC 4004 SKUs are aligned with their Ryzen 7000 series counterparts. Pricing on the EPYC 4004 series ranges from the EPYC 4124P 4-core processor at $149 USD to the 16-core EPYC 4564P (equivalent of the Ryzen 9 7950X) at $699 USD. The EPYC 4584PX as the Ryzen 9 7950X3D equivalent with 3D V-Cache is also listed for $699. The list price matches the list price of the Ryzen 9 7950 parts for example, but we've seen the Ryzen 7000 series pricing at retail fall where for example the 7950X3D can be purchased for around $565. We'll see how the pricing plays out but at least for list prices is similar to the Ryzen 7000 series.

The EPYC 4000 class processors take direct aim at Intel Xeon E processors. But AMD has the big upper-hand for those concerned about performance in entry-level servers. The current flagship of the Xeon E-2400 Raptor Lake processors is the Xeon E-2488... The Xeon E-2488 is an 8-core / 16-thread processor with 3.2GHz base frequency and 5.6GHz maximum turbo frequency. This 95 Watt TDP processor supports up to two channels of DDR5-4800 memory (less than the DDR5-5200 with EPYC 4004) and being derived from Raptor Lake does not have AVX-512. This flagship 8-core / 16-thread Xeon E-2400 series processor has a list price of $606 USD... The Xeon E-2488 only hits mid-way in the EPYC 4004 line-up while costing more (the EPYC 4344P is $329 and the EPYC 4364P is $399 for those 8-core parts) and the EPYC 4004 series has AVX-512, DDR5-5200 support, and going up the stack are the 12-core and 16-core options as well as the 3D V-Cache "X" variants. The EPYC 4004 line-up is quite versatile and more capable than the current Xeon E-2400 series processors.

Over time the EPYC 4000 family may gain more features that better separate them from the Ryzen parts in future generations. Already though the AMD EPYC 4004 family has a lot of potential for squarely taking on the Intel Xeon E class servers.

I have been testing the AMD EPYC 4004 series processors for several weeks and have many benchmarks to share in time for launch day. Thanks to AMD for supplying all of the EPYC 4004 processors... Let's move on to looking at some EPYC 4004 hardware and benchmarks.