‘Hundreds’ of AMD’s fastest CPUs are on sale on eBay at a staggering 70% discount, but why would suppliers in China dump these 128-core EPYC processors?
In June 2023, AMD launched its EPYC “Bergamo” 9754 server-grade processor from the EPYC 9004 series, a powerhouse with 128 Zen 4c cores and 256 threads, with a base clock speed of 2.25 GHz and a maximum boost clock of up to 3, 1. GHz.
At the time of release, the EPYC 9754 had an MSRP of $11,900, which is still the listed price on AMD website.
Just weeks after launch, we discovered it was selling for over $9,500 in the US at retailers like Wiredzone and Tech-America, which seemed to be the standard asking price. If you thought you were getting a bargain at the time, wait until you see how much you can buy it for now. On eBay you can find the processor for just $3,525, a 70.38% discount on the official price.
Buyer beware
There are several entries for the “brand new” processor on it eBayand while the main one costs $3,525, it can be had from other sellers for a few dollars more. All offers have one thing in common: the processors come from China with free international shipping.
For your money, you get the processor without a box, although with some offers you can request the original packaging if necessary. Where do these processors come from and why are they sold so cheaply? We’ve reached out to a few eBay sellers but (unsurprisingly) haven’t heard back yet.
The obvious answer will likely be due to a variety of factors such as gray market purchasing, excess inventory, or sellers trying to offload inventory quickly. If you are tempted to place an order for a bargain EPYC 9754, be warned that purchasing from these sources may involve risks such as limited or non-existent warranties, possible counterfeiting, and (of course) little to no guarantees. support.
The EPYC 9754 features 256 MB L3 cache, a standard TDP of 360 W and supports a configurable TDP (cTDP) range between 320 W and 400 W.
The CPU is designed for SP5 sockets and supports both single- and dual-socket configurations, making it ideal for high-performance server applications. Aimed at cloud-native workloads, AMD stated at launch that it would deliver performance gains of up to 160% compared to its nearest competitor.