Xeon 6978P vs EPYC 9655P
Contents
Primary details
Comparing processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 3 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | 6 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 2.78 | no data |
| Market segment | Server | Server |
| Power efficiency | 9.65 | no data |
| Designer | AMD | Intel |
| Manufacturer | TSMC | no data |
| Architecture codename | Turin (2024) | no data |
| Release date | 10 October 2024 (less than a year ago) | 1 July 2025 (recently) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $10,811 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Performance to price scatter graph
Detailed specifications
EPYC 9655P and Xeon 6978P 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 | 96 | 120 |
| Threads | 192 | 240 |
| Base clock speed | 2.6 GHz | 2.1 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 4.5 GHz | 3.9 GHz |
| L1 cache | 80 KB (per core) | no data |
| L2 cache | 1 MB (per core) | no data |
| L3 cache | 384 MB (shared) | 504 MB |
| Chip lithography | 4 nm | Intel 3 nm |
| Die size | 12x 70.6 mm2 | no data |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 80 °C |
| Number of transistors | 99,780 million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | - |
Compatibility
Information on EPYC 9655P and Xeon 6978P 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 | 1 | no data |
| Socket | SP5 | FCLGA7529 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 400 Watt | 500 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by EPYC 9655P and Xeon 6978P. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® AMX, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512 |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | - |
| Speed Shift | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | no data | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | no data | + |
| TSX | - | + |
| Precision Boost 2 | + | no data |
| Deep Learning Boost | - | + |
Security technologies
EPYC 9655P and Xeon 6978P technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | + |
| EDB | no data | + |
| SGX | no data | + |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by EPYC 9655P and Xeon 6978P are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | + | - |
| VT-d | no data | + |
| VT-x | no data | + |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by EPYC 9655P and Xeon 6978P. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR5 | DDR5(6400MT/s) MRDIMM(8800MT/s) |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 3 TB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 12 |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | N/A | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by EPYC 9655P and Xeon 6978P.
| PCIe version | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 128 | 96 |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 10 October 2024 | 1 July 2025 |
| Physical cores | 96 | 120 |
| Threads | 192 | 240 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 400 Watt | 500 Watt |
EPYC 9655P has 25% lower power consumption.
Xeon 6978P, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 8 months, and 25% more physical cores and 25% more threads.
We couldn't decide between AMD EPYC 9655P and Intel Xeon 6978P. We've got no test results to judge.
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