AMD is reportedly working on an HBM variant of its next-gen Epyc Genoa (Zen 4) server processors, primarily to tackle Intel’s Sapphire Rapids-SP which will feature at least one SKU with on-die HBM memory. According to Impact Hardware (via WCCFTech), there have been repeated discussions regarding the use of HBM memory with Zen 4 (among AMD’s server partners), with no concrete decision made at the time of writing.
AMD is already planning a 3D stacked V-Cache version of Milan with a slated launch in H1 2022, and a similarly designed HBM variant isn’t all that unimaginable. However, just like Trento, it’s likely that the HBM model (if it comes to fruition) would be reserved for a handful of important clients, with the rest getting V-Cache variants.
AMD’s data center roadmap is certainly the most interesting. There are around five different lineups slated to launch in the next 2-3 years. The first one is Milan-X with 3D stacked V-Cache, followed by Trento alongside the Instinct MI200 for the Frontier SC. After that, we’ve got the mainstream Genoa-SP (96 cores) expected sometime in early 2023 plus a V-Cache version, and finally, Bergamo (128 core) for the cloud market sometime later that year. Now, there’s word of an HBM variant as well.
There’s a very good chance that the standard Genoa-SP, Genoa with V-Cache, and the corresponding HBM variants will form the same product family, so it may not be fair to think of them as three separate stacks. Intel’s Sapphire Rapids-SP processors have been delayed to the second or third quarter of 2022, giving AMD plenty of time to expand its presence in the lucrative server segments.
