AMD's latest Epyc is slimmer, cooler, and ready to party at the edge

AMD's latest CPU is a shrunken Epyc optimized for power-limited and thermally challenging telco and cloud edge deployments.

Code named "Siena" the House of Zen's 8004-series processors are the final entry in the chipmaker's Epyc 4 roadmap, which already includes general-purpose, high-performance compute, and cloud-optimized CPUs.

AMD envisions Siena being deployed in a variety of environments ranging from factory floors and remote offices to telecom base stations and remote datacenters. These environments can be quite challenging compared to the typical climate-controlled datacenter where noise or power consumption aren't as big a concern, Lynn Comp, VP of server product and technology marketing at AMD, explained in a briefing ahead of the launch.

Because of this, nearly every facet of the chip – including core count, IO, memory, and even its socket – has been cut down to maximize power efficiency, thermals, and minimize its footprint.

Under the hood, we ...