AMD Genoa 96-Core CPU Towers Over Intel Sapphire Rapids 56-Core CPU In 2P System Benchmark

AMD Epyc system
(Image credit: AMD)

Twitter’s YuuKi_AnS has been lucky enough to be able to test the latest and greatest workstation and server processors from AMD and Intel. The tech enthusiast and digital creator has put both an AMD EPYC Genoa two-processor (2P) system and an Intel Xeon Platinum 8480+ Sapphire Rapids 2P system through the Cinebench R23 rendering benchmark. The result is an obvious win for the AMD Genoa Engineering Sample. However, before going on, please take the results with a pinch of salt, as YuuKi_AnS admits this type of shared data isn’t guaranteed to be accurate but is “for reference only.”

There is something of an anomaly in the way Cinebench either uses or reports processor cores. The rendering benchmark appears to be somehow limited to 125C/256T. It is evident from the system info section of the benchmarking app. Meanwhile, the Windows Task Manager correctly shows that the AMD’  Genoa’ machine under test is a 2P system using a pair of 96C/192T processors working together. So clearly, Cinebench R23 should report and use 192C/384T of processing available but may not be; it might be limited to the readout - 125C/256T for now.

With the above system setup explanations and provisos out of the way, let us look closer at the results through the medium of a table.

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Cinebench

AMD Genoa

Intel Sapphire Rapids

Reported core count

128C/256T @ 2.15 GHz

112C/224T @ 2 GHz

Multi Core R23 score

110,230

69,777

According to the test results, the AMD ‘Genoa’ ES 2P system is 38% faster than the Intel Sapphire Rapids 2P system. It is because the AMD system wields more cores, and Cinebench R23 responds well to core scaling. Cinebench says the AMD system has 14% more cores, though according to Windows, it has 71% more cores, and if the benchmark were utilizing them, the score would be even better.

While consumers are getting excited at the impending launch of Zen 4 architecture Ryzen 7000 processors towards the end of this month, AMD’s EPYC Genoa parts (based on the same microarchitecture) are also causing ripples. A week ago, YuuKi_AnS posted a photo of an EPYC 9654 ES 96-core CPU (one of the CPUs in the tested system above?). The Genoa launch could be as soon as next month, but we aren’t sure as AMD isn’t as upfront about its non-consumer-related business plans. These powerful EPYC chips are scheduled for H2 2022, and we are in that part of the calendar now.

Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

  • Makaveli
    There is photoshopping done on this image. Should be tagged as a Rumor
    Amd/comments/wrzxz2View: https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/wrzxz2/sapphire_rapids_8480_vs_epyc_genoa_cinebench_r23/
    Reply
  • Jimbojan
    If Intel Sapphire Rapids 2 socket is still cheaper than AMD's 96 Core, what is the point here? As most users do not need 96 cores.
    Reply
  • Kamen Rider Blade
    Jimbojan said:
    If Intel Sapphire Rapids 2 socket is still cheaper than AMD's 96 Core, what is the point here? As most users do not need 96 cores.
    You do know that Sapphire Rapids & Genoa are generally for Enterprise workloads.

    They're not designed for consumers.
    Reply
  • waltc3
    With Intel having officially delayed Sapphire Rapids until ~mid 2023, I see no reason to doubt this general assessment--but I'm sure it isn't literal--the performance difference could be much higher in favor of Genoa...;) But, seriously, all of it is pure speculation at this point. Still, Intel's delay of SR is telling.
    Reply
  • Friesiansam
    Makaveli said:
    There is photoshopping done on this image. Should be tagged as a Rumor
    Amd/comments/wrzxz2View: https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/wrzxz2/sapphire_rapids_8480_vs_epyc_genoa_cinebench_r23/
    No need for it to be tagged as a rumour. Presumably you missed: "However, before going on, please take the results with a pinch of salt, as YuuKi_AnS admits this type of shared data isn’t guaranteed to be accurate but is “for reference only. "
    Reply
  • C_D
    Meet Delayed Rapids! Cheers!
    Reply
  • Wisecracker
    Next on deck ___ 'Bergamo' packing a whopping 128 Zen 4c cores (if AMD hits their roadmap in 1H-2023 . . . )

    waltc3 said:
    With Intel having officially delayed Sapphire Rapids until ~mid 2023, I see no reason to doubt this general assessment--but I'm sure it isn't literal--the performance difference could be much higher in favor of Genoa...;) But, seriously, all of it is pure speculation at this point. Still, Intel's delay of SR is telling.
    Reply
  • drtweak
    Kamen Rider Blade said:
    You do know that Sapphire Rapids & Genoa are generally for Enterprise workloads.

    They're not designed for consumers.

    lol right? like yea we all gonna buy dual CPU 96 core systems for our daily driver lol
    Reply
  • nicalandia
    Makaveli said:
    Amd/comments/wrzxz2View: https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/wrzxz2/sapphire_rapids_8480_vs_epyc_genoa_cinebench_r23/

    Yes. the screenshots I got from the source(YuuKi_AnS) had a few blurred sections on the original picture. I did a terrible job at trying to "Clean" it with Paint(not even PhotoShop).

    I Got with YuuKi_Ans, shared the pics, he reviewed, like it and posted on his Twitter Account...

    This is one of the pictures(I have others, also 4S and 8S Sapphire Rapids data will be shared in due time)

    1560787109463687170View: https://mobile.twitter.com/SprayOnCopper/status/1560787109463687170
    Reply
  • shady28
    The comparative Intel scores already got debunked, or something is wrong with their ES. The lower end 52 core 8370 got 79150 s the 56 core 8380 they used to compare to Genoa getting 69000.

    52 core 8370 getting 79,150 vs Genoa 96 core at 110,230.

    You are getting 71% of the performance from Sapphire Rapids with 54% of the cores count of the Genoa part.

    If you are in a licensing situation where you have to pay per core, common to say Oracle or SQL Server licensing, Sapphire rapids is going to be a runaway winner here.

    1519330531871051777View: https://twitter.com/yuuki_ans/status/1519330531871051777
    Reply