AMD says its next-gen EPYC 'Venice' processor is over 3X faster than NVIDIA Vera

At Computex 2026, NVIDIA unveiled Vera, its new CPU purpose-built for large-scale AI deployments and agentic systems. With its 88-core Arm-based design, it's a general-purpose data center-focused CPU powered by Arm v9.2-A 'Olympus' cores. Compared to the previous generation's Grace processor, NVIDIA claims a 1.5X increase in IPC and around 50% faster performance than existing x86 solutions.

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Although a lot of the focus in the past has been placed on GPU performance, with the rise of AI factories and agents, the CPU is quickly becoming a critical component - and it's an area or market that's still relatively new for NVIDIA. Not so for AMD, which has been delivering its data center-focused EPYC processors for years now. When it comes to AI, AMD has released new performance benchmarks showing that its EPYC lineup, including the next-gen 256-core EPYC 'Venice' processor, outperforms NVIDIA Vera and Intel Xeon.

However, it's worth noting that these benchmarks are based on a single data-center rack with a 100 kW power budget, and Vera's performance is an estimate based on currently available data. "Data centers are provisioned in racks, and racks are bounded by a fixed power and thermal budget, finite floor space, software-compatibility requirements, and operational readiness," AMD explains. Adding that its numbers are based on a full workload set rather than a "single favorable benchmark."

And based on that, AMD's chart uses NVIDIA Vera and its 88 cores as the baseline. Here we see its current 192-core AMD EPYC 9965 'Turin' processor deliver 2.37X more performance, with the next-gen 256-core AMD EPYC 'Venice' processor delivering a 3.3X performance increase. Naturally, these numbers account for rack density, with EPYC Venice offering over 36,000 cores per rack compared to NVIDIA Vera's 22,500 cores. And when it comes to "performance-per-core," AMD adds that 'Venice' delivers a 27% advantage when compared to Vera.

"These AMD deployments run on standard liquid-cooled data center equipment, and the x86 software ecosystem enterprises already operate," AMD adds, in a nod to the specialized hardware and racks required for NVIDIA's new Vera Rubin platform. "Agentic AI infrastructure should be planned at the rack level, not around isolated component claims. On that basis, the conclusion is straightforward: AMD EPYC delivers higher deployable CPU throughput, x86 software continuity and a standards-based path to dense, AI-supporting infrastructure. And it's available today on shipping platforms. For enterprises scaling toward production agentic AI, that combination of density, compatibility and deployability is what turns performance into capacity."