Intel may have launched its 4-bit 4004 processor back in 1971, but AMD’s launch of the EPYC 4004 in 2024 genuinely bring new levels of power, performance, efficiency and value for small and medium businesses that make Intel’s Xeon E 2400 as obsolete as a 2400bps modem.
AMD has been in business for more than 50 years, and has been kicking Intel’s butt well before the epic Ryzen revolution on the late 2010s, and here we are, nearly half way into the 2020s, and AMD just keeps on delivering on all fronts, whether it is consumer and business CPUs, now with AI capabilities, server CPUs, and of course, its dedicated AI accelerators, with the MI-300X generating, inferencing and providing excellent competition in the marketplace.
The world would look very different without AMD in it – we’d all be paying a lot more for a lot less, and nowhere near as advanced, technologically, as we are today, with AMD continuing its work to outclass competitors – and soon, with its Strix Point AI turbocharged Ryzen processors due later this year, too, dubbed Ryzen AI per the latest reports – and we’ll no doubt hear a lot more about that later this year when it all becomes official.
Now, I’m not a server chip expert, but I do know good technology when I see it, and I can also read the reviews from genuine server chip guys who are absolutely loving everything the new AMD EPYC 4004 server chips deliver.
The “Serve the Home” website has a detailed article absolutely worth reading, the Phronix guys have a ginormous 16 page write-up, and for balance, The Register says the EPYC 4004 series is based on updated Ryzen 7000 tech but validated for enterprise use, but this is an even bigger condemnation of Intel’s Xeon E 2400 series if you ask me. AMD is outperforming Intel at the lower end so massively? Wow, Intel, so embarrassing for you – but this is par for the course!
The Serve the Home guys embedded a great video into their article, which I definitely recommend you read in the link above, and I’ve embedded here for you to see as well – after which is the information AMD shared on this new processor launch.
So, what does AMD have to stay about the EPYC 4004 range, with my comments in between?
Let’s start with another video:
AMD starts by noting these new processors complement the existing AMD EPYC server CPU portfolio with new cost-optimised offerings that deliver enterprise-class features and leadership performance for small and medium businesses and hosted IT service providers.
And hey, in an age of inflation, rising energy costs and the other challenges the world is facing, this is music to a lot of SME IT people’s ears.
AMD continues, noting these new CPUs “provide the price conscious buyer with enterprise-grade performance, dependability, scalability and modern security features powered by the highly efficient “Zen 4” architecture. When compared to an Intel Xeon® E-2488 CPU, a server powered by a single AMD EPYC 4564P CPU delivers a 1.8x increase in performance per CPU dollar.”
Now, as always, you need to do your own homework and validate test results for yourself, but as you can see from the links above, benchmark sites and more, AMD is delivering.
John Morris, the corporate VP of the Enterprise and HPC Business Group at AMD, and who is in the AMD video above, said: “Historically, many small to medium businesses have had to compromise on their IT solutions by using hardware that doesn’t fully meet their needs.
“Based on the same technologies that power the most demanding data centers in the world, the AMD EPYC 4004 Series processors are offered at an optimized acquisition cost for customers in small and medium-sized businesses seeking to drive better business outcomes.”
So, why does AMD say it is “a trusted choice for growing businesses”?
Here, we’re told the AMD EPYC 4004 Series processors “are built to deliver strong, general-purpose computing in a single-socket package, enabling highly performant rack scale, multi-node and tower configurations where system cost and other infrastructure constraints are critical considerations.”
Kamran Amini, the VP and GM for Server, Storage & Software Defined Solutions at Lenovo noted: “As part of our ongoing collaboration, Lenovo is excited to see AMD introducing new EPYC 4004 CPUs that help address new market opportunity. The expansion of the AMD EPYC processor roadmap addresses a larger market segment with the affordable, yet high-performance capabilities of the new processor.”
“With the introduction of AMD EPYC 4004 series CPUs, AMD is helping to address the needs of server customers across the spectrum, providing price per performance value for growing businesses along with efficiency for a dependable, secure, infrastructure.”
OVHcloud are another great testimonial and big AMD user, and you can see my video interview with the APAC GM Terry Maiolo about its new Sydney data centre here,, and while this interview wasn’t specifically about AMD, but OVHcloud’s new data centres that cool each server with the equivalent of a cup of water in a closed loop system, he did confirm to me at AMD processors were absolutely part of the mix.
So, it is no surprise to see Yaniv Fdida, the chief product and technology officer at OVHcloud state: “We are thrilled to add yet another AMD EPYC solution to our Bare Metal portfolio. Sharing common values with AMD such as efficiency and sustainability, we are convinced our upcoming AMD EPYC 4004 CPU-powered solutions will provide flexibility in the datacenter. Our customers will be able to harness the sheer compute performance and energy efficiency of these new processors all the while benefiting from our Trusted Cloud and performance-price ratio.”
Another big fan of AMD is Supermicro, with its SVP Marketing and Network Security, Michael McNerney, stating: “The workload performance of Supermicro’s 3U MicroCloud Multi-Node Server and 1U,2U Mainstream Server Family powered by the AMD EPYC 4004 Series CPUs, brings increased value to customers looking for cost-effective and easy-to-deploy solutions.
“Together, we’re expanding access to businesses looking to optimize their hosting and content delivery, cloud workloads, and more.”
AMD EPYC 4004 Series CPUs are supported by leading partners including, Altos, ASRock Rack, Gigabyte, Lenovo, MSI, New Egg, OVHcloud, Supermicro and Tyan – so there’s plenty of choice in the market there, too, but that’s as per usual.
You can find out more information about AMD’s EPYC 4004 range here, and more about the EPYC server CPU family here.
Here Is the pricing in USD: