Discussing Zen 5, EPYC, Xeon, and Security w/ Anonymous Server Engineer
Added 2024-08-16 00:31:28 +0000 UTCFinally, we will once again be joined by the Anonymous Server Engineer in the next Broken Silicon! He has been on many times before, and it's always a joy because he is such a veteran of the industry. Anything having to do with CPU architectures, AI, or datacenter GPU is fair game - but at a minimum we plan to discuss:
Recent AMD Security Issues
Recent Intel Raptor Lake & Sapphire Rapids Failure
AMD Ryzen 9000 & Zen 5
EPYC Turin
Xeon Granite Rapids
Future Intel Architectures like Lion Cove, Diamond Rapids, and Zen 6
The status of Nvidia & AMD GPU in Datacenter & AI
You have ~48 hours to write-in below! Just be concise, use good grammar, and be respectful to be considered.
Last Episode he was on: https://youtu.be/bdnb7Mq9vFk?si=1PkZeVYRP5JDc8Qm
Last Full Episode he was on: https://youtu.be/sVN9LrWREBs?si=TG65d3y-9rk3dy7d
Comments
With the new lithography technologies(2nm ,3nm etc) for how long the cpus/gpus will run. Will they have huge longevity (20/30 or even more years) or a short one (5/6 years)? What is the current longevity of the current server grade cpus and gpus?What about mixed products like threadripper?
Valko Milev
2024-08-17 17:37:34 +0000 UTCThere’s been a lot of discussion regarding gaming on Linux lately on the Moore’s Law is Dead Discord channel and I would say that this is mostly due to frustrations with Windows. Since Valve already has significant mindshare with PC gamers, could they realistically persuade a lot of Windows users to jump over to Steam OS and how would you suggest they go about achieving that? What about other Linux distributions?
Chris Rijk
2024-08-17 15:51:59 +0000 UTCFor quite a while now, Intel’s datacenter group has been making meagre profits. By itself does that make you significantly less willing to buy their products? What do you think of their roadmap for servers? Is there anything you think they should do that they aren’t already doing or alternatively something they should stop doing? Reference: https://www.nextplatform.com/2024/08/02/the-resurrection-of-intel-will-take-more-than-three-days/
Chris Rijk
2024-08-17 15:51:48 +0000 UTCLooking ahead to the next 5 years in general servers, do you see any major developments that aren’t just “more of the same”? AI is currently driving a lot of R&D and could some of this spill over into general servers - for example, high speed memory or high end interconnects and networking.
Chris Rijk
2024-08-17 15:51:26 +0000 UTCTaking a basic high level look at server processors, AMD has their standard cores and their denser "c" cores derived from them, Intel has distinct p-cores and e-cores and a number of companies have ARM server processors which generally have a lot of dense cores. Do you prefer a few strong cores or a lot of denser cores? Do you prefer AMD or Intel’s approach here or are they about the same (performance, efficiency, features, support, etc)?
Chris Rijk
2024-08-17 15:51:15 +0000 UTCWelcome back Server Engineer - the previous time you were on you talked about a 37% market share as being an important tipping point for AMD. If current trends continue they should hit that in a year when measured by revenue and about 3 years when measured by unit volume. How do you feel about AMD’s position in servers, has there been any change in your perception about them since you were last on and do you expect their growth to accelerate or slow down?
Chris Rijk
2024-08-17 15:51:07 +0000 UTCHi Tom and guest. This time I wanna ask: 1. opinions on the VMware exodus and the replacements. 2. non NV GPU/ NPU adoption in the server market. Is the CUDA/ NV moat unbeatable? 3. thoughts on cloud vs on-premise 2024 Thanks
MinG3825
2024-08-17 15:42:33 +0000 UTCHello, with the rise of NPU in APU, do you see those NPU coming to server?
Nicolas Terroir
2024-08-17 07:40:44 +0000 UTCI can agree with that.
Schattenjäger
2024-08-17 07:11:23 +0000 UTCDo you have any concerns for Zen 5 Server/Workstation performance given the terrible launch state of Zen 5 on Desktop?
Schattenjäger
2024-08-17 07:11:15 +0000 UTCGiven AMD added proper support for AVX512 in Zen 5 do you believe this will improve AMD position in the datacenter? Also does AMD verses Intel verse ARM matter with the likes of Amazon making their own CPUs? Lastly any word on Apple servers?
Kiln God
2024-08-17 00:29:19 +0000 UTCTo me, the only mistake AMD did was give these new products the moniker of “Zen 5” instead of “Zen 4 + (plus)”. Give it the marketing that its the same performance but lower tdp, with increased avx512 performance. I think it would have been received well that way.
Sad XTX 999
2024-08-16 22:31:15 +0000 UTCHaven't forgotten anything ;) Just asking them a question.
CompressedAIBlocks
2024-08-16 20:22:03 +0000 UTCGenerally, product evolutions for enterprise have trickled down into consume markets however recently we're starting to see enterprise /data center products (even the "lower end") stuff be so far ahead of what consumers would even need. Do you think the AI bubble bursting night reverse this trend or will the gap continue to widen?
B. Fish
2024-08-16 16:06:11 +0000 UTCHas it surprised you that interfaces like U.2 haven't made the transition from enterprise to consumer for storage? It seems like consumers are stuck with M.2 or SATA, with no other options.
Cleansweep
2024-08-16 13:53:52 +0000 UTCNot yet, but I think AMD was probably planning to do it over the next several years anyway. This is not a bulldozer moment.
Random Guy
2024-08-16 10:28:52 +0000 UTCActually Zen 5 desktop for Windows 11 is weak, particularly with games. However Zen 5 still strong with Linux, and most of my computers run Linux, so I'm still very interested in it. Have we forgotten already that when Windows 11 came out, AMD Zen processors had performance issues that took a while for Microsoft to fix (after more than one update)? Most servers run Linux, not Windows, so I think Zen 5 server is going to be a big success, and cloud providers, and people running traditional data centers, both remote and on-premises, are going to be attracted by both the increased performance under Linux and the cost savings from reduced power consumption. That might not mean much on the desktop, but it means a lot to cloud providers.
Random Guy
2024-08-16 10:26:34 +0000 UTCThe last I heard, a lot of the data center server GPU hardware is still on back order for a year or more. From what I can see, the marketing hype and buzz outside of the companies may have died down a bit, but the push for AI inside of companies hasn't. The upper management of many companies see AI as their future.
Random Guy
2024-08-16 10:16:00 +0000 UTCFrom what I can see, companies are still rushing headlong with AI. It's the new buzzword, and I don't see anything simple like reality stopping the rush, especially when upper management is telling them it is the future and what they must prioritize, no ifs, and or buts. Businesses are pouring tons of money into AI, but are they getting anywhere near as much out of it? I would be surprised if they were. How are businesses responding to the financial imbalance? Some companies may be responding with layoffs.
Random Guy
2024-08-16 10:11:23 +0000 UTCDo you think that Microsoft knew of how bad the Intel failures are, and how badly Zen 5 was performing and that was why they are so hyped about ARM? Do all X86 processor launches require a lot of tweaks in Windows?
Early80sPC-Gamer
2024-08-16 09:58:07 +0000 UTCHello Tom and guest! As a consumer, it's starting to seem like a lot of the hype and buzz around AI and machine learning is starting to die down a bit. Is the wave of investment towards AI in data centers slowing down at all? Are data centers still buying up workstation GPUs by the pallet, or has ML hardware purchasing leveled off?
kjm015
2024-08-16 06:57:57 +0000 UTCDo you see a push for AI from management at your job, and how do you respond to it? Do they even have a plan for what to do with it that they can sell?
coladict
2024-08-16 05:41:51 +0000 UTCHow would you estimate the scale of Raptor Lake deployments in servers aside from game hosting? What about in professional workstations?
qhfreddy
2024-08-16 03:18:43 +0000 UTCWhat would you say are the most interesting similarities and differences between the Rocket Lake situation and the Spectre/MDS situation?
qhfreddy
2024-08-16 03:12:22 +0000 UTCDo you think we'll be seeing RISC V or ARM based server products from Intel or AMD in the near future (5-7 years)?
CompressedAIBlocks
2024-08-16 03:06:05 +0000 UTCZen 5 for client has been a mixed bag, with desktop being the weakest so far. How do you think this effects server customers? Will they just ignore these issues as their environments are radically different or will they stick with Zen 3 or 4 server based products?
CompressedAIBlocks
2024-08-16 03:03:11 +0000 UTCHow bad are the security issues arising in Zen compared to Skylake? Will we see similar performance regressions if they get patched?
CompressedAIBlocks
2024-08-16 03:01:53 +0000 UTCDo you think it's time for AMD to move past any Zen based architecture with a fresh start similar to Bulldozer to Zen?
CompressedAIBlocks
2024-08-16 03:01:06 +0000 UTCDid you ever have a scenario where you saw a significant decrease in performance from one generation to another running the same software and OS on an updated server?
AnotherChris
2024-08-16 01:12:10 +0000 UTCHello Tom and guest, so with Intel's recent failures annihilating any trust gamers had for them, is the server market having the same reaction to these failures as the gaming market has? Are server clients scrambling to get off Intel or is it more subdued?
Resident Mexican
2024-08-16 01:10:06 +0000 UTCZen 5 seems to be polished and performing well under Linux. From a server perspective will this encourage more customers to buy Zen 5 based servers?
PCDog
2024-08-16 00:49:31 +0000 UTCHey Tom and Guest I know this isn't on topic but how do you feel about Black Myth: Wukong being the new Crysis? Even the 4090 with DLSS Quality (75%) can barely play the game at 4k 60fps medium Ray tracing? I feel like this maybe the first true next Gen experience outside of Demon Soul Remake.
Kinihun25
2024-08-16 00:45:30 +0000 UTC
