AMD Launches Powerful 5th Gen EPYC Embedded Processors for Industrial Edge Computing

AMD has recently announced the expansion of its x86 embedded processor portfolio with the introduction of the 5th Gen AMD EPYC Embedded Processors for Industrial Edge Computing, known as the EPYC Embedded 9005 Series. These new processors are designed to meet the growing demands of embedded markets by balancing cutting-edge compute capabilities with purpose-built features that enhance product longevity, system resiliency, and ease of embedded application development.

Powering the Next Generation of Embedded Systems

The EPYC Embedded 9005 Series processors are built on AMD’s proven “Zen 5” architecture, delivering leadership performance and energy efficiency. These processors are specifically tailored to enable networking, storage, and industrial edge systems to process more data, faster, and with greater efficiency.

Key Features:

Support for core counts ranging from 8 to 192 in a single socket, leveraging the advanced “Zen 5” and “Zen 5c” architectures.
Up to 1.3x increase in data processing throughput for networking workloads and up to 1.6x increase for storage workloads.
Capacity of up to 6TB of DDR5 memory per socket, with options for 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12-channel memory interleaving.
Expanded I/O connectivity with up to 160 PCIe Gen5 lanes and CXL 2.0 support, enhancing I/O agility and workload flexibility.

Meeting the Demands of AI-Driven Computing

Salil Raje, senior vice president of adaptive and embedded computing at AMD, highlighted the driving forces behind the development of these new processors: “AI-driven network traffic, exploding data storage requirements, and the expansion of industrial edge computing are driving the demand for higher compute performance in embedded platforms.”

The 5th Gen AMD EPYC Embedded Processors for Industrial Edge Computing are designed to meet these challenges head-on, providing embedded customers with leadership performance and efficiency, along with the long product lifecycles and enhanced system resiliency they need for continuous operations in demanding “always-on” environments.

Purpose-Built Features for Embedded Applications

AMD has incorporated a suite of advanced embedded features into the EPYC Embedded 9005 Series processors to ensure a robust, secure, and long-lasting platform:

Extended Longevity: To meet the longer product lifecycle and operational requirements of embedded markets, these processors offer extended seven-year product manufacturing support. This helps system designers ensure long-term product availability while reducing redesign and qualification efforts.

System Resiliency and Security: The processors include features such as Non-Transparent Bridging (NTB) for increased high availability in fault-tolerant multi-host configurations, enhancing system redundancy and failover capabilities for networking and storage systems. Additionally, they support DRAM flush for enhanced power-loss mitigation and dual SPI flash interfaces for embedding lightweight operating systems.

Industry Support and Availability

AMD is collaborating closely with ecosystem partners and leading ODMs and OEMs to bring the benefits of these next-generation embedded processors to market. Notable partners include Cisco and IBM, who have expressed enthusiasm for the new processors’ capabilities.

Lukasz Bromirski, director of product management at Cisco, stated, “We chose AMD EPYC Embedded 9005 Series processor for one of our high-end firewall products because it delivers the high compute performance that we need, from its scalability—up to 192 cores—to its high memory and I/O bandwidth.”

Matthew Geiser from IBM Storage for Data, AI and HPC added, “One of the main benefits of the AMD EPYC Embedded 9005 processors is the introduction of redundant paths for high data availability and robust connectivity options, which will pair nicely with performance-intensive applications running on IBM Storage Scale System.”

The AMD EPYC Embedded 9005 Series processors are currently sampling with early access customers, with production shipments expected to begin in the second quarter of 2025. These processors come in the SP5 socket form factor, ensuring compatibility with the prior generation AMD EPYC Embedded 9004 Series and providing a simple upgrade path for customers.

Applications in Industrial Edge Computing

The 5th Gen AMD EPYC Embedded Processors for Industrial Edge Computing are optimized for a wide range of applications, including:

Networking and Security

These processors enhance enterprise and edge routers, security appliances, and firewalls by providing efficient CPU core performance for packet forwarding and processing, with high-core density for scalable, balanced networking.

Enterprise and Cloud Storage

The series offers robust media connectivity across PCIe Gen5, SATA, and Compute Express Link (CXL), making them ideal for enterprise and cloud storage solutions.

Industrial Edge Systems

With their ability to handle high-frequency tasks, super-cache-intensive workloads, real-time AI inference, computational fluid dynamics, large-scale data analysis, and high-resolution 3D rendering, these processors are well-suited for the demands of modern industrial environments.

With the launch of the 5th Gen EPYC Embedded processors, AMD continues to push the boundaries of embedded computing, offering powerful solutions for the most demanding industrial applications and paving the way for the next generation of AI-driven, data-intensive systems.

Additional Resources:
AMD EPYC Embedded Processors
AMD Launches 5th Gen EPYC Embedded Processors for Industrial Edge Computing