AMD X399 ！！！！！

[Topweasel]

My servers are around 11k each. 48 HECs and 384GB each.

A lot of us come from companies like that, up untill recently getting these scalable SAN/compute nodes systems my company probably spent at most 8k on a single non SAN server.

Blue lives in a world where the only servers that matter are the 40-100k ones. It's a big lucrative market, but far from the only game to be found and the sub $20k market is clamoring for value.

 

[w3rd]

Funny thing is that the real utilization of AVX is in specific instances scientific computing and not only does it require compilers generating AVX-optimized code, but one also needs to identify parts of the code which are amenable to vectorization and the programming model is quite a departure from traditional way of handling things like arrays, pointers etc. Examples of libraries that use AVX heavily include the ROOT data analysis package of CERN for particle physics and various other libraries for lattice QCD, among others. This is serious stuff - I doubt that those who harp on AVX support, or lack thereof, really works with these things to claim its benefits in the upcoming Intel CPUs.

Has Intel ever made a Gamer specific platform/CPU (mmx?), as I have felt they have always given us sterile business machines & extensions.


And as a Gamer, I don't care about such nonsense.
Isn't that why Intel doesn't make Console chips and has to license/buy GPU technology for their future products? Because their chips really do not directly cater to the end-user or gamer. Heck, the only actual "gamer" technology intel has, is a mature node process, which equals more Hz.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Not sure if this was posted already but I found this whitepaper (sponsored by AMD ) linked inside a forbes article:
https://www.amd.com/system/files/2017-05/TIRIAS-AMD-Single-Socket-Server.pdf

Thought this could be interesting for some of you (I personally have no clue).

This is actually a big deal for Private Cloud (What used to be called a customer's Virtualization Environment). Our average client gets sold 2 Socket servers for their Private cloud not because they need the compute, but because of all the IO load, and DIMM Count to get memory where it should be at an affordable price. Mezzanine cards for multiple NICs, or VICs, or CNAs, cards for SAS, cards for NVMe in the current intel environment currently dictate that there *must* be 2 Sockets per board. Additionally, 12 DIMM sockets populated with 16GB DIMMs (the current sweet spot in sales), dictates that there needs to be 2 sockets to break the 200GB of memory mark. 256GB of RAM is a really good sweet spot for a Private Cloud node (if you have a 4 node distributed block, it gives you 1TB of RAM in the Block, which is a magic selling number). Many clients would opt for such a block if it were available to them.

I myself would love a home Virtual environment with more memory slots, as just like most businesses, I have to buy bang for buck. 8GB DIMMs is what I put in my environment, which means I can only add 64GB of RAM per socket. Like most Virtualization environments, I'm more memory constrained, than compute constrained.

One last big point. Lots of software is still Socket priced, and some software has even shifted to Socket pricing. VMware is socket licensed. Most Backup infrastructure is socket licensed. Lots of things that still reside on physical hardware are socket licensed. If customers can get the IO and Density they need, while cutting their licensing costs in half (for now until companies revert to core licensing anyways), don't you think that would have major appeal?

 

[krumme]

Interesting read. Whats your take on the numbers for only one socket populated (35/39%) in intel server? Freaking high number imo!

"Many 2S servers are purchased today simply to acquire more and different I/O capacity or memory than what is available on Intel’s 1S server architectures. To add significantly more memory and PCIe lanes requires adding the second processor. Those designs use the 2S chipset for more or different I/O (mostly PCIe, NVMe, and/or SATA), not for the second socket’s compute resources. Most enterprise and hyperscale server buyers will not trade down from Intel’s Xeon E5 enterprise-class features, such as use of registered DIMMs (RDIMMs), to Xeon E3’s used in 1U servers that have consumer-PC-derived features, such as unbuffered DIMMs (UDIMMs). The price difference between buying one Xeon E3 vs. one Xeon E5, with the potential to upgrade to two Xeon E5 processors, is considered a small cost to pay even though the financial cost is actually very high. In addition, practically no one who buys a 2S server with only one Xeon E5 populated will exercise the option of installing a second processor at a later time1. "

 

[Ajay]

But cost isn't entirely monetary. And switching hardware has a risk and hence cost associated with it as well. Saving $1000 heck even $5000 on the CPU for hardware that runs software costing millions just doesn't matter all that much. Managers are influence by brand value as well and most of them have never heard of AMD...

I suspect this will be similar to the old 'nobody get fired for buying IBM' mantra that played out for quite a while. Some of that will carry with Intel, though the x86 market is more price driven. Cheap servers do matter, but less so than other factors. The most important number for datacenters is TCO - mainly driven by the cost of electricity for both the servers and the air conditioning - and AMD finally has a product with the performance needed plus the efficiency required to compete on TCO. The rest will come down to rebuilding the brand (looks like they've dropped 'Opteron'), execution and good old fashion salesmanship. AMD has an opportunity, given that margins will be better on Naples, even grabbing 15% of the server market will be huge for the now, much smaller, company.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Managers are influence by brand value as well and most of them have never heard of AMD...

What kind of managers are we talking about here? Are these people that work in an IT department? I would be shocked if they hadn't heard of AMD, especially in the last year or so.

 

[IEC]

What kind of managers are we talking about here? Are these people that work in an IT department? I would be shocked if they hadn't heard of AMD, especially in the last year or so.

He probably works in a shop where IT is viewed strictly as a cost center and the purse strings are controlled by some unsmiling suit with an MBA disinclined to spend money on things unless they are broken.

That may or may not describe how IT is viewed by the CFOs of various clients I consulted for.

 

[Ajay]

He probably works in a shop where IT is viewed strictly as a cost center and the purse strings are controlled by some unsmiling suit with an MBA disinclined to spend money on things unless they are broken.

That may or may not describe how IT is viewed by the CFOs of various clients I consulted for.

LOL! That was diplomatic of you! And was clearly the case in a couple of companies I've worked for. I only worked for one where it was value higher - part of that was that devs & QA relied heavily on IT's server infrastructure (we were developing highly distributed enterprise software - would probably be called cloud-something-something today).

 

[Veradun]

I suspect this will be similar to the old 'nobody get fired for buying IBM' mantra that played out for quite a while. Some of that will carry with Intel, though the x86 market is more price driven. Cheap servers do matter, but less so than other factors. The most important number for datacenters is TCO - mainly driven by the cost of electricity for both the servers and the air conditioning - and AMD finally has a product with the performance needed plus the efficiency required to compete on TCO. The rest will come down to rebuilding the brand (looks like they've dropped 'Opteron'), execution and good old fashion salesmanship. AMD has an opportunity, given that margins will be better on Naples, even grabbing 15% of the server market will be huge for the now, much smaller, company.

Add in rack space and floor space costs, in a word, density :>

 

[Ajay]

Add in rack space and floor space costs, in a word, density :>

Good point - especially for urban environments (where floor space is at a premium).

 

[DrMrLordX]

some unsmiling suit with an MBA

At least he has a nice suit!

Maybe AMD needs to get into the menswear business. Then they could sell more servers.

 

[csbin]

https://videocardz.com/69755/asrock-confirms-x299-and-x399-motherboards

ASRock X399 motherboard



The ASRock Fatal1ty X399 Professional Gaming is currently the only confirmed model based on this chipset. In fact, this entry is basically the first confirmation that AMD Threadripper platform will utilize X399 chipset, because to this day, it was only a rumor.

This also means that Intel will have a problem with future HEDT platform as X399 chipset name will already be occupied by AMD.

[ASRInfo]
CDLBL=Fatal1ty X399-00.01
Model=”X399 Professional Gaming”
CDSetupVer=v3.0.33.1
ProductSeries=Motherboard
Series=Fatal1ty

 

[Malogeek]

This also means that Intel will have a problem with future HEDT platform as X399 chipset name will already be occupied by AMD.

Why would the name be a problem for Intel?

 

[Atari2600]

Why would the name be a problem for Intel?

If its trademarked...

 

[Malogeek]

lol ok, I doubt execs at Intel will lose any sleep over losing that specific model name.

 

[tamz_msc]

Gigabyte X399 Aorus 7:

https://videocardz.com/69995/gigaby...aming-7-worlds-first-threadripper-motherboard

 

[lolfail9001]

Gigabyte X399 Aorus 7:

https://videocardz.com/69995/gigaby...aming-7-worlds-first-threadripper-motherboard

That I/O is disappointing tbh.

And Socket is indeed gargantuan.

 

[tamz_msc]

That I/O is disappointing tbh.

And Socket is indeed gargantuan.

How is three PCI-E 3.0 x4 NVMe and 64 PCI-E 3.0 lanes disappointing? Plus official support for ECC?

 

[lolfail9001]

How is three PCI-E 3.0 x4 NVMe and 64 PCI-E 3.0 lanes disappointing? Plus official support for ECC?

I meant I/O on board. I am well aware of what chip itself has.

 

[tamz_msc]

I meant I/O on board. I am well aware of what chip itself has.

The only thing I can think of as missing is dual ethernet ports. I'm pretty sure that 8 SATA ports are more than enough.

 

[lolfail9001]

The only thing I can think of as missing is dual ethernet ports. I'm pretty sure that 8 SATA ports are more than enough.

I was personally expecting C6H's IO times two. That makes like 6 more USBs and 4 more SATAs.

 

[tamz_msc]

I was personally expecting C6H's IO times two. That makes like 6 more USBs and 4 more SATAs.

Gigabyte's I/O has been on the lower side. Plus aren't most of the C6H's rear panel USBs version 2.0?

 

[moonbogg]

That socket is titanic. Looks like the lid to a lunchbox or something. So crazy.

 

[lolfail9001]

Gigabyte's I/O has been on the lower side. Plus aren't most of the C6H's rear panel USBs version 2.0?

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-CROSSHAIR-VI-HERO/specifications/

No.

 

[tamz_msc]

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-CROSSHAIR-VI-HERO/specifications/

No.

AsRock X399 Taichi seems slightly better.
https://videocardz.com/70018/asrock-also-showcases-x399-motherboards

Would like to see Asus's offerings.