AMD EPYC 7542 vs Intel Xeon E5-2696 v4

Comparative analysis of AMD EPYC 7542 and Intel Xeon E5-2696 v4 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Peripherals, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization, Security & Reliability. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark, CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s).

 

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD EPYC 7542

  • CPU is newer: launch date 3 year(s) 1 month(s) later
  • 10 more cores, run more applications at once: 32 vs 22
  • 20 more threads: 64 vs 44
  • A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 7 nm, 14 nm vs 14 nm
  • Around 45% more L1 cache; more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
  • 2.9x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
  • 2.3x more L3 cache, more data can be stored in the L3 cache for quick access later
  • 2.7x more maximum memory size: 4 TB vs 1536 GB
Launch date 7 Aug 2019 vs 20 June 2016
Number of cores 32 vs 22
Number of threads 64 vs 44
Manufacturing process technology 7 nm, 14 nm vs 14 nm
L1 cache 2 MB vs 1408 KB
L2 cache 16 MB vs 5.5 MB
L3 cache 128 MB vs 55 MB
Maximum memory size 4 TB vs 1536 GB

Reasons to consider the Intel Xeon E5-2696 v4

  • Around 9% higher clock speed: 3.7 GHz vs 3.4 GHz
  • Around 50% lower typical power consumption: 150 Watt vs 225 Watt
Maximum frequency 3.7 GHz vs 3.4 GHz
Thermal Design Power (TDP) 150 Watt vs 225 Watt

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD EPYC 7542
CPU 2: Intel Xeon E5-2696 v4

Name AMD EPYC 7542 Intel Xeon E5-2696 v4
PassMark - Single thread mark 2063
PassMark - CPU mark 75117
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s) 45.233
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s) 238.37
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s) 2.53

Compare specifications (specs)

AMD EPYC 7542 Intel Xeon E5-2696 v4

Essentials

Architecture codename Zen 2 Broadwell EP
Launch date 7 Aug 2019 20 June 2016
Launch price (MSRP) $3400
OPN PIB 100-100000075WOF
OPN Tray 100-000000075
Place in performance rating 227 273
Vertical segment Server Server
Family Xeon E5
Processor Number E5-2696 v4
Series E5-2000

Performance

Base frequency 2.9 GHz 2.2 GHz
L1 cache 2 MB 1408 KB
L2 cache 16 MB 5.5 MB
L3 cache 128 MB 55 MB
Manufacturing process technology 7 nm, 14 nm 14 nm
Maximum frequency 3.4 GHz 3.7 GHz
Number of cores 32 22
Number of threads 64 44
Unlocked
64 bit support
Bus Speed 9.6 GT/s QPI 4800 MHz
Operating Temperature Range -25 °C - 125 °C
Transistor count 7.2 billion

Memory

ECC memory support
Max memory channels 8 4
Maximum memory bandwidth 190.7 GB/s 71.53 GB/s
Maximum memory size 4 TB 1536 GB
Supported memory types DDR4-3200 DDR4-2400

Compatibility

Socket Count 1P/2P
Sockets supported SP3
Thermal Design Power (TDP) 225 Watt 150 Watt
Max number of CPUs in a configuration 2

Peripherals

Max number of PCIe lanes 128 40
PCI Express revision 4.0
Number of USB ports 3.0
PCIe configurations 1x4, 1x16

Advanced Technologies

AMD SenseMI
Fused Multiply-Add 3 (FMA3)
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions 2 (AVX2)
Intel® AES New Instructions
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® TSX-NI
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Intel® vPro™ Platform Eligibility

Virtualization

AMD Virtualization (AMD-V™)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)

Security & Reliability

Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)