
This rare AMD chip is the cheapest 16 core CPU - kooskoos
https://www.techradar.com/news/this-rare-amd-chip-is-the-cheapest-16-core-cpu-right-now
======
parsimo2010
A couple years ago I built a compute server from old parts like this. I looked
at old Opterons, but ultimately went with Xeons (4x E7-4880v2) because of
HyperThreading, even though they were a bit more expensive (I think I paid $90
per CPU). I was super excited that I could build a 60 core/120 thread computer
with 12 TB of disk space and 512 GB of ECC RAM for under $2k.

That excitement lasted until I actually got the parts and built it. Heavy iron
like this should not live in your spare bedroom. The 4U server chassis weighed
about 150 lbs fully built, and it made over 95 dB of noise. The noise was so
bad I couldn't leave it on overnight, and only powered it up to run code for a
few hours at a time.

But in the long run, it scored 81k on GeekBench 4, which was over 3x more than
my gaming PC, and having 512 GB RAM meant my simulations never needed swap, so
they ran several days faster even though the memory was only DDR3. It was a
fun experiment, but don't buy an old Opteron CPU unless you have experience
with servers and know what you're getting into. It doesn't make sense for
businesses to build a system with old parts, and a lot of homelab hobbyists
are going to be disappointed if they think they can build something suitable
for home use.

Also: If you're wondering why I didn't use AWS or other cloud compute, it's
because the costs of running a 32 core instance (which was about the same
speed as my 60 older cores) would have been over $10k with my usage pattern-
$30/hour for a few hours each day for a couple years really puts a dent in
your wallet.

~~~
waltpad
How was it energy-wise?

~~~
parsimo2010
It pulled about 600W at full load (using a Kill-a-watt meter on my wall). I
never measured it at idle, because I shut it down as soon as it finished a
day’s work. But it probably pulled 100W at idle.

------
DisjointedHunt
This is probably not the most appropriate comparison to make. Processor
generations across such a wide time period such as a decade ago(when the
Opteron was commercially available) aren't comparable to todays similar core
counterparts. That said, one can compare scores to see the numbers behind what
you're paying for:

AMD Opteron :
[https://browser.geekbench.com/processors/1550](https://browser.geekbench.com/processors/1550)
AMD EPYC:
[https://browser.geekbench.com/processors/2142](https://browser.geekbench.com/processors/2142)

Support for faster memory, more PCIe lanes, advanced networking are just some
of the differences that the technology family as a whole of current processors
offers as a differentiator to processors available in 2011.

~~~
87zuhjkas
I prefer
[https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+Opteron+6272&id...](https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+Opteron+6272&id=1569)
vs
[https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+EPYC+7351P&id=3...](https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+EPYC+7351P&id=3124)

AMD Opteron 6272: Multi-Core Score 4368, Single Thread Score 741

AMD EPYC 7351P: Multi-Core Score 15792, Single Thread Score 1691

So the AMD EPYC 7351P is more than twice as good in Single Thread usage and
more than 3.5x times as good in Multi-Core computation.

~~~
barbegal
But it is more than 10x cheaper.

~~~
87zuhjkas
That depends on the context of cheap, e.g. how much would it cost to run these
chips 24/7 for 5 years based on their TDP (performance per watt).

------
jankotek
I used to have 24 core Proliant server 7 years ago. This CPU did not had any
powersaving features whatsoever (frequency scaling, turbo, core switching off
etc). It was great for testing code performance for its predictable
performance.

------
znpy
Iirc Linus from Linus tech tips benchmarked a pc build like the one suggested
in the article. It didn't come out great.

But even for simple tasks, those CPUs might not even have hardware accelerated
crypto (aes-ni instruction set iirc).

And are probably less efficient than modern CPUs.

Long story short: I wouldn't bother unless performances power bills are not a
problem.

------
Google234
I have a feeling that even with 4 of them, your computer will feel slow doing
normal things. However, if you plan on doing molecular dynamics or some other
parallel stuff this seems like a good value. Edit: Actually I take that back,
a 10 year old chip will be quite slow in general.

------
temikus
Weren’t those the ones with weird NUMA issues?

~~~
soganess
Care to elaborate?! I'm honestly interested.

~~~
temikus
It’s one of those things where I don’t have a reference anymore (since Opteron
is no longer actively used) but I distinctly remember AMD Server processor
family being notorious for weird unexplained memory issues.

I think this is one of the examples (old as though):
[https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=7768](https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=7768)

