AMD unveils EPYC 8005 'Sorano' server CPUs, up to 84 cores and 225W TDP

AMD has now formally launched its EPYC 8005 "Sorano" server processor family, following a preview at Mobile World Congress 2026 earlier this year. The new series succeeds the EPYC 8004 "Siena" lineup and slots between AMD's flagship EPYC 9005 "Turin" processors and the more affordable EPYC 4005 parts.

One of the most notable things about Sorano is that AMD chose to equip it with full Zen 5 cores, rather than the Zen 5c cores that feature in Turin Dense. Keep in mind that the previous-generation EPYC 8004 "Siena" used Zen 4c, so this is a meaningful architectural step up. The shift to full Zen 5 brings a substantial boost in per-core L3 cache, and all current SKUs now reach up to 4.5 GHz boost, compared to just 3.15 GHz on the previous generation.

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The EPYC 8005 lineup comprises 7 SKUs. The stack starts with the entry-level EPYC 8025P at 8 cores and 95W TDP, and steps up through the 16-core 8125P, 24-core 8225P, 32-core 8325P, 48-core 8435P, and 64-core 8535P, all the way to the flagship EPYC 8635P with 84 cores, 168 threads, 384 MB of L3 cache, and a 225W TDP.

TDPs can be configured as low as 70W, depending on the SKU. All models share a common platform feature set, including six-channel DDR5-6400 ECC memory with support for up to 3 TB per socket, 96 PCIe Gen 5 lanes, and full AVX-512 support. This series is aimed exclusively at single-socket, low-power platforms.

AMD is targeting the EPYC 8005 squarely at edge infrastructure, telecommunications, vRAN, and dense cloud storage workloads. To that end, the series also includes hardware-level LDPC decoding optimizations for 5G Layer 1 processing. In a joint validation with Samsung, a single EPYC 8635P-based server supported 54 simultaneous cell networks, delivering 9.5 Gbps downlink and 2.0 Gbps uplink throughput.

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As for AMD's own performance claims, the company says the flagship 8635P delivers 40% higher integer performance and 9.5% better performance per watt compared to the previous-generation 64-core EPYC 8004 flagship. Against Intel's 40-core Xeon 6716P-B, AMD claims the 8635P offers a staggering 91% advantage in integer performance while consuming 10W less power, and 48% better integer performance per watt per dollar against the 72-core Xeon 6776P-B.

The Sorano launch comes at a strong moment for AMD's server business. AMD EPYC CPUs captured a record 46.2% of server CPU revenue in Q1 2026, an all-time high driven largely by rising AI and data center demand. AMD is clearly on a roll in the server space, and the EPYC 8005 family gives it a well-rounded offering to keep that momentum going in the edge and telco segments as well.