AMD Epyc 8004 Extends Temp Range

The AMD Epyc 8004 (Siena) processor targets telco and other embedded designs. Employing the Zen 4C CPU, it’s similar to the recent Bergamo server processor but has fewer CPUs and DRAM interfaces and a smaller package.

Joseph Byrne

AMD has adapted its data-center technology to better address edge-computing systems, network infrastructure, and other embedded designs. The company’s new Epyc 8004 (Siena) processors have 8–64 cores, scaled down from the 128-core Bergamo server processor.

Available now, the chiplet-based Siena employs the same compute and I/O die as Bergamo but houses them in a smaller package and supports only single-socket systems. Accompanying the physical-size reduction, core count and DRAM bandwidth also decrease.

The x86 architecture has found ever more use in networking equipment, propelled by frequent performance boosts, tireless advocacy by its primary supplier, and blurred divisions between data centers and communications infrastructure. With high performance, however, comes high power—a drawback AMD seeks to mitigate by employing its efficient Zen 4C CPU in Siena.

A further challenge is that networking equipment may operate in harsher environments than the data center where a server is typically found. Telecommunications companies, therefore, require some systems to comply with special design guidelines (NEBS). To serve customers designing compliant systems, AMD qualified some Siena models for a broader temperature range.