Ampere Altra Max Continues To Deliver Competitive Power Efficiency To AMD EPYC & Intel Xeon

Overall it was an interesting redux for this fresh Ampere Altra Max testing on the Giga Computing G242-P36 server.

The raw performance against AMD EPYC Genoa(X) / Bergamo and Intel Xeon Scalable Sapphire Rapids varied quite a bit based on the particular application/workload under test and how optimized or not it is for AArch64. But near consistently the Ampere Altra Max M128-30 was delivering comparable or better power efficiency to these modern Intel and AMD server processors. For power efficiency and value the Ampere Altra (Max) has aged remarkably well with the maturing Linux AArch64 ecosystem.

Those wanting to see even more workloads covered and areas where the Ampere Altra Max performs particularly well or not can find all of my collected data in full via this result page.

On average the Ampere Altra Max M128-30 was consuming around a third of the power of the Intel Xeon Platinum 8490H. (Ignore the upper limits on some of the x86 CPU readings due to an apparent race condition or so within the PowerCap / RAPL code that once in a random reading will yield bogusly high values.)

That's where the Ampere Altra Max performance is against AMD EPYC Genoa(X) and Bergamo and Intel Xeon Scalable Sapphire Rapids as we approach the end of 2023. Hopefully as we roll into 2024 we begin seeing more from AmpereOne to see the raw performance potential as well as the continued emphasis on power efficiency and TCO. Next year Ampere Computing also needs to go up against Intel Sierra Forest E-core Xeon server processors, AMD's next-gen wares on Zen 5, and the continued growth of in-house ARM server processors being developed by the hyperscalers and CSPs.

Thanks to Giga Computing for supplying the G242-P36 review unit for allowing this comparison and other upcoming Ampere Altra (Max) Linux benchmarks on Phoronix.