AMD 128-core Zen 5-based EPYC 9755 'Turin' tested: 2X faster than 128-core predecessor

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It's fast!

AMD EPYC CPU
(Image credit: AMD)

As the launch of AMD's EPYC 'Turin' processor comes closer, its benchmark results begin to emerge. Case in point, hardware enthusiast blogger @9550pro found and leaked alleged performance numbers of 128-core AMD EPYC 9755 'Turin' in the 7zip compression/decompression benchmark. Compared to AMD's 128-core EPYC 9654 'Bergamo', the new processor is almost two times faster. But there are a lot of catches here. 

As it turns out, AMD's 128-core AMD EPYC 9755 'Turin' is massively — around two times — faster in compression/decompression workloads than the 128-core EPYC 9654 'Bergamo' processor. These workloads are integer workloads that are similar to those used in servers and they are good indicators of single-core/single-thread performance.  

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Row 0 - Cell 0 CoresClocksL3 CacheTDPRatingCompressionDecompression
EPYC 9754128 Zen 4c2.25 - 3.10 GHz256 MB360W196.775 GIPS171 MB/s2220 MB/s
EPYC 9755128 Zen 52.70 - 4.10 GHz (?)512 MB (?)500W394.705 GIPS346 MB/s4427 MB/s
Advantage-Row 3 - Cell 2 -Row 3 - Cell 4 100.60%102.34%99.41%

@9550pro did not disclose where his 7zip compression/decompression benchmark numbers come from, so one should take them with a grain of salt, or two. But if the results are accurate, they are easily explainable. 

When it comes to the EPYC 9755 and EPYC 9654, the former seems to have 128 full-blown Zen 5 cores allegedly running at 2.70 – 4.10 GHz accompanied by a rumored 512MB of L3 cache, while the latter is equipped with 128 Zen 4c compact cores running at up to 3.10 GHz and paired with 256MB of L3 cache. Considering microarchitectural improvements of Zen 5 over Zen 4, higher clocks, and a larger cache, the EPYC 9755 can indeed be two times faster than the EPYC 9654 in many workloads, especially because being Zen 5-based, it is aimed at workloads sensitive to single-thread performance, unlike the Zen 4c-based CPU.

That being said, it is necessary to note that comparing the EPYC 9755 to the EPYC 9654 is not exactly a fair apples-to-apples comparison as these processors have completely different positioning.

Based on the images provided by @9550pro, AMD's 128-core AMD EPYC 9755 'Turin' and the 128-core EPYC 9654 'Bergamo' processors were benchmarked in the 7zip version 24.06 program with a 32MB dictionary size and using a 2,048MB file for compression as well as a 4,096MB file for decompression. For some reason, whoever benchmarked these 128-core/256-thread CPUs limited the number of CPU threads to 64, which greatly reduced the potential of both processors. 

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Anton Shilov
Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

5 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Stomx
    When we will finally see these long awaited Turin processors with 3nm versus older 5nm in Genoa?

    By the way when they run 7-Zip how exactly they set up the test just to get impression on the speed numbers of our own computers? And was it Windows or Linux based ?
    Reply
  • TCA_ChinChin
    I mean the Zen 5 part has 140 watts higher TDP and the Bergamo part is running AMD's small cores instead of the full Zen4 cores. Still pretty impressive for what its worth.
    Reply
  • Stomx
    The small cores when there will be 192 of them on a single chip like it was promised will also probably have TDP 500W
    Reply
  • stuff and nonesense
    I’ll wait till there are real benchmarks, speculation based on one unverified “data point” is pretty meaningless.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    Stomx said:
    When we will finally see these long awaited Turin processors with 3nm versus older 5nm in Genoa?
    The launch event is rumored to be October 10th.

    I think the Zen 5 chiplets (powering CPUs up to 128 cores) will be the same ones made on TSMC N4P that we've seen in the Ryzen 9000 CPUs launched thus far. The N3 dies should be the ones featuring the Zen 5C cores and powering the 192-core CPUs.

    Stomx said:
    By the way when they run 7-Zip how exactly they set up the test just to get impression on the speed numbers of our own computers? And was it Windows or Linux based ?
    Good question. The article said "@9550pro did not disclose where his 7zip compression/decompression benchmark numbers come from, so one should take them with a grain of salt, or two.", so we really don't know.

    I basically treat such leaks as a positive sign (from the AMD camp's perspective), but put very little weight behind them, unless/until many emerge that all seem to tell a consistent story.
    Reply