AMD has released official benchmark data for its upcoming EPYC Venice server processors. The company claims its 256-core flagship, the EPYC 9996, delivers performance 2.24 times higher than Nvidia's Vera CPU and 2.37 times higher than the Intel Xeon 6980P in SPEC CPU 2026 intrate tests.
The new 256-core chip shows a 78% performance increase compared to the previous generation 192-core EPYC 9965. In memory bandwidth tests using the Stream benchmark, a 96-core version of the Venice processor outperformed Nvidia's Vera by approximately 18%.
AMD's testing methodology involved using different compiler versions, specifically GCC 16.1 for its own chips versus GCC 15.2 for Nvidia's data. The company also utilized a 600W power budget for its 96-core Venice configuration, while noting that its high-frequency 96-core SKU typically operates at 500W.
The performance data covers various workloads, including database management, Java, and cryptography. AMD also highlighted its lead over Intel's Granite Rapids-AP in high-performance computing tasks and provided internal results for agentic AI workloads.
