EPYC 7261 vs Apple M3 Pro 12-Core
Aggregate performance score
M3 Pro 12-Core outperforms EPYC 7261 by a whopping 117% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
Comparing processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 606 | 1229 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Server |
| Series | Apple M3 | AMD EPYC |
| Power efficiency | no data | 3.99 |
| Designer | Apple | AMD |
| Manufacturer | no data | GlobalFoundries |
| Architecture codename | no data | Naples (2017−2018) |
| Release date | 30 October 2023 (2 years ago) | 14 June 2018 (7 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
M3 Pro 12-Core and EPYC 7261 basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.
| Physical cores | 12 (Dodeca-Core) | 8 (Octa-Core) |
| Threads | 12 | 16 |
| Base clock speed | 2.748 GHz | 2.5 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 4.06 GHz | 2.9 GHz |
| Multiplier | no data | 25 |
| L1 cache | no data | 96K (per core) |
| L2 cache | no data | 512K (per core) |
| L3 cache | no data | 32 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 3 nm | 14 nm |
| Die size | no data | 213 mm2 |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 81 °C |
| Number of transistors | 37000 Million | 4,800 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | no data | - |
| Unlocked multiplier | - | + |
Compatibility
Information on M3 Pro 12-Core and EPYC 7261 compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.
| Number of CPUs in a configuration | no data | 2 (Multiprocessor) |
| Socket | no data | SP3 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | no data | 170 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by M3 Pro 12-Core and EPYC 7261. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| AES-NI | - | + |
| AVX | - | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by M3 Pro 12-Core and EPYC 7261 are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | - | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by M3 Pro 12-Core and EPYC 7261. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | no data | DDR4-2666 |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 2 TiB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 8 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | no data | 170.671 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by M3 Pro 12-Core and EPYC 7261.
| PCIe version | no data | 3.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 128 |
Synthetic benchmarks
Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark performance rating.
Passmark
Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance. Other than that, Passmark measures multi-core performance.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 13.71 | 6.32 |
| Recency | 30 October 2023 | 14 June 2018 |
| Physical cores | 12 | 8 |
| Threads | 12 | 16 |
| Chip lithography | 3 nm | 14 nm |
Apple M3 Pro 12-Core has a 116.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, 50% more physical cores, and a 366.7% more advanced lithography process.
EPYC 7261, on the other hand, has 33.3% more threads.
The Apple M3 Pro 12-Core is our recommended choice as it beats the AMD EPYC 7261 in performance tests.
Be aware that Apple M3 Pro 12-Core is a notebook processor while EPYC 7261 is a server/workstation one.
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