Ampere Altra

henryzz · 2020-12-22, 16:58

This looks like a very impressive Arm CPU. 80 N1 cores at 3.3 GHz. Shame about the $4050 price tag. Maybe 32 cores at 1.7 GHz for $800 is better value.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/16315...e-altra-review

nordi · 2020-12-22, 21:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by henryzz

Maybe 32 cores at 1.7 GHz for $800 is better value.

That was also my thought, especially considering the 45W TDP and 8 memory channels! The same money for an AMD Epyc will get you half the cores at around twice the clockspeed (=same performance?), but the power usage is ~100W higher.

M344587487 · 2020-12-23, 00:48

I'm incredibly skeptical that a 32 core 1.7GHz 45W TDP Arm part can compete in performance with a 16 core Zen 2 part with a much higher TDP, at least in heavy workloads like Prime95 I can't see how it's possible (on an efficiency basis sure, but not throughput). Even if the Altra is on 5nm TSMC and granted a 16 core Zen 2 Epyc part is on the inefficient end of the spectrum relative to other Epyc 2 parts, you'll still need to show me hard stats before I'd believe it. Other workloads may fare better so it's worth watching.

$800 is good value but it's just for the chip, I wonder what a complete setup costs and if there'll be a cloud option.

2020-12-22, 16:58	#1
henryzz Just call me Henry "David" Sep 2007 Cambridge (GMT/BST) 13343₈ Posts	Ampere Altra This looks like a very impressive Arm CPU. 80 N1 cores at 3.3 GHz. Shame about the $4050 price tag. Maybe 32 cores at 1.7 GHz for $800 is better value. https://www.anandtech.com/show/16315...e-altra-review

2020-12-23, 00:48	#3
M344587487 "Composite as Heck" Oct 2017 7·113 Posts	I'm incredibly skeptical that a 32 core 1.7GHz 45W TDP Arm part can compete in performance with a 16 core Zen 2 part with a much higher TDP, at least in heavy workloads like Prime95 I can't see how it's possible (on an efficiency basis sure, but not throughput). Even if the Altra is on 5nm TSMC and granted a 16 core Zen 2 Epyc part is on the inefficient end of the spectrum relative to other Epyc 2 parts, you'll still need to show me hard stats before I'd believe it. Other workloads may fare better so it's worth watching. $800 is good value but it's just for the chip, I wonder what a complete setup costs and if there'll be a cloud option.