Nvidia’s Grace server CPU proved to be a formidable competitor to AMD’s Threadripper 7000, as shown in a comparison of 39 tests conducted by Phoronix.
The Linux-based test compared Nvidia’s Grace server CPU to AMD’s Threadripper 7980X and Threadripper Pro 7995WX, with the end result – spoiler alert! – showing that Nvidia’s new Arm-based chip isn’t far behind AMD’s powerhouse.
Phoronix previously pitted the Grace-Hopper-powered GH200, a workstation from GPTshop.ai, against AMD’s fastest processor, the EPYC 9754, and for this new test it turned to the GH200 workstation again.
You win something and you lose something
The GH system includes both a Grace CPU and a Hopper-based H200 GPU. The Grace CPU has 72 cores, 480 GB LPDDR5X memory and is based on the Arm architecture. Unlike the Threadripper 7000, which has multiple models and up to 1TB DDR5, individual Grace chips are only available in CPU-GPU combo devices like the GH200 and the dual-chip Grace Superchip.
Although, if Tom’s hardware points out that the Grace CPU lost more tests than it won, but still managed to beat the 7980X in 17 tests and the 7995WX in 15 tests. The Threadripper 7000, with its more aggressive clock speeds and much larger L3 cache, has many advantages over the efficiency-oriented Grace chip. However, the Grace Superchip’s 500-watt TDP implies that a single Grace CPU could have a TDP of 250 watts or more, potentially making it more efficient than the 7980X and 7995WX, which are rated at 350 watts.
Despite not being designed for the same purpose, with Grace focusing on server efficiency and Threadripper on maximum workstation performance, the performance of the two chips is both remarkable. Nvidia hasn’t yet revealed the TDP of a single Grace CPU, but the comparison suggests that a desktop CPU launch by Nvidia could lead to an epic battle with AMD’s Threadripper.
In summary, Phoronix says: “For HPC workloads that are AArch64-tuned and can effectively utilize available system memory, the GH200 could deliver great performance against these Zen 4 Threadripper workstations. But for software that is extensively tuned to x86_64 and/or not so heavy Depending on system memory bandwidth, the Threadripper 7980X and Threadripper PRO 7995WX are excellent workstation options.”