AMD has unveiled its latest lineup of embedded processors with the launch of the 5th Gen AMD EPYC Embedded 9005 Series, designed to deliver top-tier performance, efficiency, and long-term reliability. These processors, built on AMD’s “Zen 5” architecture, are specifically optimised for embedded applications across networking, storage, and industrial edge systems.
Tech giants Cisco and IBM are among the first to integrate these new chips into their next-generation platforms, recognising their superior capabilities in handling data-intensive workloads efficiently.
High-performance architecture and improved efficiency
The AMD EPYC Embedded 9005 Series processors offer a single-socket core range from 8 to 192, providing high processing power tailored for embedded systems. These chips offer up to a 1.3x increase in networking data throughput and a 1.6x boost in storage workload efficiency, making them ideal for use in firewalls, industrial control applications, and high-performance storage systems.
Built on the new “Zen 5c” core architecture, these processors provide a 1.3x improvement in socket throughput and a 1.3x increase in performance per watt compared to competitors. With up to 6TB of DDR5 memory per socket and support for 160 PCIe Gen5 lanes featuring CXL 2.0, these processors offer robust data transfer speeds and storage expansion capabilities.
““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,” said Salil Raje, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Adaptive and Embedded Computing at AMD. “5th Gen AMD EPYC Embedded processors bring leadership performance and efficiency to embedded customers, together with the long product lifecycles and enhanced system resiliency they rely on to design confidently and ensure continuous operations in demanding “always-on” environments.”
Designed for longevity and security
One of the standout features of the AMD EPYC Embedded 9005 Series is its extended product lifecycle. AMD guarantees a seven-year manufacturing support period, ensuring long-term availability and reducing the need for costly system redesigns. Additionally, AMD plans to increase the design lifetime from five to seven years for production units, ensuring stability for mission-critical applications operating in extreme conditions.
These processors also feature advanced security and resiliency measures, including:
- Non-Transparent Bridging (NTB): Improves system redundancy and failover capabilities, allowing continued operation during CPU failures.
- DRAM Flush: Prevents data loss in mission-critical storage environments by transferring data from DRAM to non-volatile memory during power failures.
- Dual SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface): Enables users to install a secure bootloader, ensuring a trusted execution environment.
For developers, the processors come with Yocto framework support, allowing the creation of custom Linux distributions. Additional SPDK (Storage Performance Development Kit) and DPDK (Data Plane Development Kit) support enhances network and storage performance.
Industry support and availability
Several major companies are already integrating the new AMD EPYC Embedded 9005 Series into their products. Cisco is using these processors in high-end firewall solutions, leveraging their scalability and high memory bandwidth.
“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,” said Lukasz Bromirski, Director of Product Management at Cisco.
IBM is also utilising AMD’s new embedded processors in its Storage Scale System 6000, which is designed for enterprise AI workloads.
“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,” said Matthew Geiser, Product Management, IBM Storage for Data, AI, and HPC.
AMD has begun sampling the new processors with early access customers, and mass production is expected to start in the second quarter of 2025. The SP5 socket design ensures backward compatibility with the previous EPYC Embedded 9004 Series, providing a straightforward upgrade path for customers.
