More CPU Cores Isn't Always Better, Especially In HPC
The Next Platform, January 19th, 2023
If a few cores are good, then a lot of cores ought to be better. But when it comes to HPC this isn't always the case, despite what the Top500 ranking - which is stacked with 64-core Epycs - would lead you to believe.
Speaking with executives at Atos and Lenovo's HPC division, it becomes clear that while more cores are nice, it's memory bandwidth, faster I/O, and higher clock speeds that customers are really after.
Yet AMD and Intel have been undeterred in their quest to push core counts ever higher with each subsequent generation. AMD's 'Genoa' Epyc 9004 boasts up to 96 cores and its upcoming 'Bergamo' chips will boost the count to 128. Meanwhile, Intel's 'Sapphire Rapids' Xeon SPs top out at 60.