Velocity Micro, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high-performance computers, offers several customization options for the ProMagix HD360A workstation to configure 4th generation EPYC dual-processor systems. Surprisingly, these models are cheaper (and more powerful!) than Intel Xeon versions.

The manufacturer’s website allows you to equip your own workstation. The ProMagix HD360A, in its version with all the most powerful components and AMD processor, costs “only” US$ 36,289 (about R$ 191 thousand). The ProMagix HD360MAX with similar specifications and an Intel processor costs an incredible US$ 56,919, that is, almost R$ 300 thousand.

This means that one workstation with two EPYC 9004 processors can be up to 36% cheaper than a similar option equipped with two Xeon Platinum 8000 units. Interestingly, configurations with AMD hardware have more cores, threads, and better cache capabilities than models with an Intel CPU.

Check the table below for a general hardware comparison of both platforms equipped with AMD EPYC 9654 and Intel Xeon Platinum 8490H.

The memory configurations, dedicated graphics, cooling and other factors that are not directly related to the processors are identical, so it’s clear that the price difference is due to the choice of CPU.

(Images: Phoronix)

Interestingly, benchmark tests performed by the site Phoronix indicate that the EPYC 9654 and Xeon Platinum 8490H have nearly equivalent performance in the main workloads — in many cases, AMD’s processor outperformed its Intel rival, especially in applications that are not optimized for the “blue team” Xeon architecture.

For even more affordable workstations, AMD is expected to announce the Ryzen Threadripper 7000 line with models with up to 96 cores in mid-2023.