AMD EPYC 9006 Venice: Zen 6 Server CPUs Arrive with Up to 256 Cores on TSMC 2nm

By VRLA Tech  ·  Servers & CPUs  ·  July 2026

AMD announced the 6th-generation EPYC 9006 “Venice” processor family at the Advancing AI 2026 event in San Francisco on July 22, 2026. Venice is the first server CPU built on TSMC’s 2nm process technology, the first AMD EPYC chip with PCIe Gen 6, and the highest-core-count x86 server processor ever produced. The flagship EPYC 9996 packs 256 Zen 6c cores and 512 threads into a single socket with 1,024 MB of L3 cache and 203 billion transistors.

This is a platform shift, not an incremental refresh. Venice introduces a new SP7 socket, 16-channel DDR5 memory, CXL 3.1, and a chiplet redesign that doubles compute density per CCD compared to the outgoing Turin generation. For organizations running AI training, HPC simulation, agentic AI workloads, or large-scale inference, Venice represents the most significant EPYC upgrade since the original Zen architecture launched in 2017.

This page covers the full Venice lineup, what changed architecturally, how it compares to Turin and competing platforms, and how VRLA Tech is building Venice into custom servers and workstations.

What Changed: Zen 6 Architecture on TSMC 2nm

Venice replaces the Zen 5 architecture used in EPYC 9005 Turin with a ground-up Zen 6 design manufactured on TSMC’s N2 process node. This is the semiconductor industry’s transition from FinFET transistors to nanosheet (gate-all-around) transistors — delivering higher performance at the same power, lower power at the same performance, and roughly 15% higher transistor density compared to N3.

The compute chiplet (CCD) layout has been redesigned. In standard Zen 6 configuration, each CCD now contains 12 cores with 48 MB of shared L3 cache, up from 8 cores and 32 MB on Turin. The dense Zen 6c variant packs 32 cores per CCD with 128 MB of L3. With eight Zen 6c CCDs on a single package, Venice reaches 256 cores, 512 threads, and roughly 1 GB of L3 cache per socket.

The I/O architecture also changed. Venice uses two I/O dies (IODs) manufactured on a 6nm process, replacing Turin’s single IOD. These IODs manage 16 memory channels, PCIe Gen 6 lane allocation, and CXL 3.1 connectivity — double the memory channels and double the per-lane bandwidth compared to Turin’s 12-channel DDR5 and PCIe Gen 5.

The EPYC 9006 Venice Family: Four Platforms

AMD is not releasing Venice as a single product line. The EPYC 9006 family spans four distinct platforms, each optimized for a different deployment model. This is AMD’s most segmented EPYC launch to date.

EPYC 9006 SP7 — High-Performance and AI Host

The SP7 is the flagship platform. It supports up to 256 Zen 6c cores and 512 threads in dense configurations, or up to 96 cores with boost clocks reaching 5.0 GHz in high-frequency configurations for workloads that prioritize per-core speed. Standard Zen 6 configurations reach 128 cores and 256 threads.

The SP7 platform also serves as the host CPU for AMD’s Helios rack-scale AI system, paired with Instinct MI450-series GPU accelerators and Pensando networking hardware.

EPYC 9006 SP8 — Mainstream Servers

The SP8 platform targets volume deployment where core density, power efficiency, and cost per socket matter more than absolute performance. It supports 8 to 128 cores, 8-channel DDR5 with two DIMMs per channel, and 128 PCIe Gen 6 lanes. SP8 supports both 1P and 2P configurations and is NEBS-friendly for telco edge deployment. TDP targets range from 350W to 400W. SP8 ships in the first half of 2027.

EPYC 9006X SP7 — Venice-X with 3D V-Cache

Venice-X adds AMD’s 3D V-Cache stacked cache technology to the SP7 platform. It supports up to 96 cores with up to 1,152 MB of L3 cache — roughly three times the per-core cache of standard Venice SP7. Boost clocks reach 5.15 GHz. Venice-X targets HPC simulation (GROMACS, NAMD, AMBER), computational fluid dynamics, large-scale analytics, retrieval-augmented generation, in-memory databases, and other memory-latency-sensitive workloads. Venice-X launches in the second half of 2027.

EPYC 9006 LP (Verano) — AI Host Node

The EPYC 9006 LP, formerly codenamed Verano, is purpose-built to serve as a host CPU in GPU-dense AI racks. It supports up to 72 cores and 144 threads with 24-channel LPDDR5X memory via field-replaceable SOCAMM2 modules. It boosts to 5 GHz and is designed to keep GPU accelerators continuously fed with data across dense, accelerator-rich rack configurations. Verano launches in the second half of 2027 on the SP8 platform.

The EPYC 9996: Venice Flagship

The only individual SKU AMD named at launch is the EPYC 9996 — the 256-core, 512-thread dense configuration with 1,024 MB of L3 cache and 203 billion transistors. AMD published benchmark comparisons of the EPYC 9996 against the 128-core Intel Xeon 6980P and AWS Graviton5 across agentic AI, web serving, database, and scientific computing workloads.

Key results from AMD’s own testing:

• NGINX web serving: up to 3.7x throughput versus Xeon 6980P
• MongoDB: up to 3.5x throughput versus Xeon 6980P
• GROMACS and NAMD molecular dynamics: up to 3.1x versus Xeon 6980P
• TPCx-AI benchmark: up to 3.4x versus Xeon 6980P
• SPEC CPU 2017 integer throughput: up to 2.2x versus NVIDIA Vera
• Single-core SPEC CPU 2017 integer: up to 1.2x versus NVIDIA Vera

These are AMD’s own benchmarks run on AMD test systems. Independent third-party benchmarks are expected as SP7 systems reach reviewers closer to Q4 availability.

What Venice Means for AI Infrastructure

The CPU is becoming more important in AI infrastructure, not less. As workloads shift from pure GPU training toward agentic AI — where autonomous AI agents perform multi-step reasoning, tool use, code execution, and retrieval — the host CPU becomes the orchestration layer that coordinates data movement, networking, storage, security, and system management across the rack.

Venice addresses this directly. AMD claims up to 2.8x agents per watt versus ARM-based server CPUs in sandbox execution, and up to 3.3x performance per watt in general-purpose CPU server workloads. Compared to the previous EPYC Turin generation, AMD claims 1.8x tokens per second, 1.7x agents per watt, and 1.4x performance per watt.

For organizations building on-premise AI infrastructure, the Venice SP7 platform provides the CPU headroom, memory bandwidth, and PCIe Gen 6 I/O needed to feed next-generation GPU accelerators without CPU-side bottlenecks — whether in a single server or across a multi-rack deployment.

What Venice Means for HPC and Scientific Computing

Venice is a significant upgrade for CPU-bound HPC workloads. Molecular dynamics simulations in GROMACS, NAMD, AMBER, and LAMMPS scale with core count and memory bandwidth — Venice provides both. The 256-core EPYC 9996 delivers 3.1x GROMACS and NAMD throughput compared to the Intel Xeon 6980P in AMD’s benchmarks. When Venice-X arrives in 2027 with 1,152 MB of 3D V-Cache, memory-latency-sensitive HPC workloads will see further improvement.

Computational fluid dynamics, finite element analysis, climate modeling (WRF, CESM), protein structure prediction (AlphaFold, ESMFold), and genomics pipelines all benefit from higher core counts, deeper caches, and wider memory bandwidth. Venice delivers all three simultaneously.

VRLA Tech EPYC Venice Servers and Workstations

VRLA Tech is building EPYC 9006 Venice into custom server and workstation configurations. Venice SP7 systems will be available starting Q4 2026. Current EPYC 9005 Turin configurations remain available and shipping now for organizations that need immediate deployment.

VRLA Tech EPYC Venice configurations include:

• 4U GPU Server — Up to 8 NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell GPUs with NVLink, EPYC Venice SP7, 128 PCIe Gen 6 lanes, for AI training and multi-GPU HPC
• 2U GPU Server — Up to 4 GPUs at full PCIe bandwidth, EPYC Venice SP7 or SP8, for inference, fine-tuning, and rendering
• 1U Compute Server — No-GPU configuration for CPU compute, virtualization, NVMe storage, and database workloads
• EPYC Workstation — Tower form factor for desk-side deployment with EPYC Venice SP7, multi-GPU support, and BMC remote management
• Dual EPYC Workstation — Dual-socket EPYC Venice for maximum core count and memory capacity in workstation form factor

Every system is configured to the specific workload, burn-in tested, thermally validated, and ships with a 3-year parts warranty and lifetime US-based engineer support. You reach the same engineer who built your system.

Browse all VRLA Tech workstations or use the AI ROI Calculator to compare on-premise EPYC Venice server costs versus cloud GPU pricing.

Frequently Asked Questions: AMD EPYC 9006 Venice Hardware

What is the AMD EPYC 9006 Venice?

The AMD EPYC 9006 Venice is AMD’s 6th-generation server processor family based on the Zen 6 architecture and manufactured on TSMC’s 2nm process. It is the first HPC chip produced on 2nm. The lineup spans four platforms: EPYC 9006 SP7 with up to 256 cores, EPYC 9006 SP8 for mainstream servers with 8 to 128 cores, EPYC 9006X with 3D V-Cache for HPC workloads, and EPYC 9006 LP (Verano) for AI host nodes with LPDDR5X memory. VRLA Tech in Los Angeles builds custom EPYC Venice workstations and GPU servers with a 3-year parts warranty and lifetime US-based engineer support.

How many cores does the AMD EPYC 9006 Venice support?

The AMD EPYC 9006 Venice supports up to 256 cores and 512 threads per socket using Zen 6c dense compute dies. Standard Zen 6 configurations scale to 128 cores and 256 threads, while high-frequency models top out at 96 cores with boost clocks up to 5.0 GHz. VRLA Tech configures EPYC Venice servers and workstations at vrlatech.com/servers/ — built in Los Angeles since 2016 with a 3-year warranty and lifetime US-based engineer support for clients including Los Alamos National Laboratory and Johns Hopkins University.

What process node does the EPYC 9006 Venice use?

The AMD EPYC 9006 Venice uses TSMC’s 2nm (N2) process technology for its compute chiplets and 6nm for its I/O dies. It is the first high-performance computing processor to reach volume production on TSMC 2nm. The transition from FinFET to nanosheet (gate-all-around) transistors delivers higher performance at the same power, lower power at the same performance, and greater transistor density. Production is ramping in Taiwan with future output planned at TSMC’s Arizona fabrication facility.

What is the difference between EPYC 9006 SP7 and SP8?

EPYC 9006 SP7 is the high-performance platform supporting up to 256 cores, 16-channel DDR5 memory delivering 1.6 TB/s bandwidth, PCIe Gen 6, CXL 3.1, and TDPs up to 600W. EPYC 9006 SP8 is the mainstream platform with 8 to 128 cores, 8-channel DDR5 with 2 DIMMs per channel, 128 PCIe Gen 6 lanes, and lower power targets of 350-400W. SP7 ships Q4 2026; SP8 ships first half 2027. VRLA Tech at vrlatech.com builds both SP7 and SP8 servers in Los Angeles with a 3-year warranty and lifetime US-based engineer support.

What is the EPYC 9006X Venice-X with 3D V-Cache?

The AMD EPYC 9006X Venice-X is a variant of the EPYC 9006 family that adds AMD 3D V-Cache stacked cache technology. It supports up to 96 cores with up to 1,152 MB of L3 cache — roughly three times the L3 per core compared to standard Venice SP7. Venice-X reaches boost clocks up to 5.15 GHz and targets HPC, simulation, modeling, large-scale analytics, and memory-sensitive workloads. It launches in the second half of 2027 on the SP7 platform. VRLA Tech builds EPYC Venice-X workstations and servers at vrlatech.com with a 3-year warranty and lifetime US-based engineer support.

What memory does the EPYC 9006 Venice support?

The EPYC 9006 SP7 supports 16-channel DDR5 ECC memory with speeds up to 8,000 MT/s using standard RDIMMs and up to 12,800 MT/s using second-generation MRDIMMs, delivering up to 1.6 TB/s of memory bandwidth per socket. The SP8 supports 8-channel DDR5 with 2 DIMMs per channel. The EPYC 9006 LP (Verano) uses 24-channel LPDDR5X via SOCAMM2 modules. VRLA Tech configures EPYC Venice servers with DDR5 ECC RDIMM at vrlatech.com — built in Los Angeles since 2016 with a 3-year warranty and lifetime engineer support.

Does the EPYC 9006 Venice support PCIe Gen 6?

Yes. The AMD EPYC 9006 Venice is AMD’s first server platform with PCIe Gen 6.0 support, delivering 64 Gbps per lane — double the bandwidth of PCIe Gen 5. The SP7 platform provides 128 PCIe Gen 6 lanes in single-socket configuration and 160 lanes in dual-socket. The SP8 platform also provides 128 PCIe Gen 6 lanes. Venice also adds CXL 3.1 support for memory expansion and pooling. VRLA Tech builds PCIe Gen 6 EPYC Venice GPU servers at vrlatech.com/servers/ with a 3-year warranty and lifetime US-based support.

How does EPYC 9006 Venice compare to EPYC 9005 Turin?

EPYC 9006 Venice offers over 70% higher performance and efficiency versus EPYC 9005 Turin according to AMD. Core count increases from 192 maximum on Turin to 256 on Venice. Memory bandwidth roughly triples from approximately 576 GB/s to 1.6 TB/s with 16-channel support versus 12-channel. Venice moves to PCIe Gen 6 from Gen 5, adds CXL 3.1, and moves from TSMC 4nm/3nm to 2nm. L3 cache per CCD doubles from 64 MB to 128 MB in dense configurations. VRLA Tech at vrlatech.com builds both Turin and Venice EPYC servers in Los Angeles.

Where can I buy an AMD EPYC 9006 Venice server?

VRLA Tech builds custom AMD EPYC 9006 Venice servers and workstations in Los Angeles. EPYC 9006 SP7 servers ship starting Q4 2026. Every system is configured to the specific workload, burn-in tested, and thermally validated before shipping. VRLA Tech has built custom workstations and GPU servers since 2016 for clients including General Dynamics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, and George Washington University. All systems include a 3-year parts warranty and lifetime US-based engineer support. Configure at vrlatech.com/servers/.

Who builds custom AMD EPYC Venice workstations?

VRLA Tech builds custom AMD EPYC Venice workstations in tower form factor for researchers, engineers, and data scientists who need EPYC-class compute on their desk. These systems support up to 256 cores per socket, 16-channel DDR5 ECC memory, PCIe Gen 6, and BMC remote management. VRLA Tech is based in Los Angeles and has built custom systems since 2016 for clients including Los Alamos National Laboratory and Johns Hopkins University. Every workstation ships with a 3-year parts warranty and lifetime US-based engineer support. Configure at vrlatech.com.

Can I get an EPYC 9006 Venice GPU server with NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs?

Yes. VRLA Tech builds EPYC 9006 Venice GPU servers with NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell and other Blackwell-architecture GPUs. The EPYC 9006 SP7 platform provides 128 PCIe Gen 6 lanes to feed up to eight GPUs at full bandwidth with NVLink connectivity. These servers are designed for AI training, inference, fine-tuning, and HPC workloads. VRLA Tech has built GPU servers in Los Angeles since 2016 for General Dynamics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Johns Hopkins University. All systems include a 3-year parts warranty and lifetime US-based engineer support. See vrlatech.com/servers/.

Best company for custom EPYC Venice servers with warranty?

VRLA Tech is a custom EPYC Venice server builder based in Los Angeles, operating since 2016. Every EPYC Venice server is configured to the specific workload, assembled by hand, burn-in tested, and thermally validated before shipping. VRLA Tech serves enterprise clients including General Dynamics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University, and Miami University. All systems ship with a 3-year parts warranty and lifetime US-based engineer support — you reach the same engineer who built your system. Configure at vrlatech.com/servers/.

Is the AMD EPYC 9006 Venice good for AI training servers?

Yes. The AMD EPYC 9006 Venice is built for AI training infrastructure. The SP7 platform delivers 1.6 TB/s memory bandwidth and 128 PCIe Gen 6 lanes to keep GPU accelerators fed during training runs. AMD reports up to 1.8x tokens per second and 1.7x agents per watt compared to the previous EPYC Turin generation. Venice also serves as the host CPU for AMD’s Helios rack-scale AI systems. VRLA Tech builds EPYC Venice AI training servers at vrlatech.com/servers/ in Los Angeles with a 3-year warranty and lifetime US-based engineer support.

What is the AMD EPYC 9996 processor?

The AMD EPYC 9996 is the flagship processor in the EPYC 9006 Venice family. It features 256 Zen 6c cores, 512 threads, 1,024 MB of L3 cache, and 203 billion transistors on TSMC 2nm. AMD benchmarks show the EPYC 9996 delivering up to 3.7x NGINX performance and 3.5x MongoDB performance versus the Intel Xeon 6980P. It ships on the SP7 platform with PCIe Gen 6 and 16-channel DDR5 support. VRLA Tech builds custom EPYC 9996 servers at vrlatech.com/servers/ in Los Angeles with a 3-year warranty and lifetime US-based engineer support.

How does the EPYC 9006 Venice compare to Intel Xeon?

AMD’s own benchmarks show the 256-core EPYC 9996 outperforming the 128-core Intel Xeon 6980P by up to 3.7x in NGINX web serving, 3.5x in MongoDB, and 3.1x in GROMACS and NAMD scientific computing workloads. Venice also provides 16-channel DDR5 versus 8-channel on current Xeon, PCIe Gen 6 versus Gen 5 on most Xeon SKUs, and significantly higher core density. VRLA Tech builds both EPYC and Intel Xeon servers at vrlatech.com/servers/ in Los Angeles with a 3-year warranty and lifetime US-based engineer support.

When does the AMD EPYC 9006 Venice ship?

AMD announced the EPYC 9006 Venice on July 22, 2026, at the Advancing AI event in San Francisco. EPYC 9006 SP7 servers begin shipping in Q4 2026. The EPYC 9006 SP8 mainstream platform ships in the first half of 2027. The EPYC 9006X Venice-X with 3D V-Cache and the EPYC 9006 LP Verano ship in the second half of 2027. VRLA Tech is accepting pre-orders for EPYC Venice configurations now at vrlatech.com/servers/ — built in Los Angeles since 2016 with a 3-year warranty and lifetime US-based engineer support.

What is the EPYC 9006 LP Verano?

The AMD EPYC 9006 LP, formerly codenamed Verano, is a specialized variant of the EPYC 9006 family purpose-built as an AI host node CPU. It features up to 72 cores and 144 threads with LPDDR5X memory via SOCAMM2 modules, providing 24-channel memory for high bandwidth in a compact form factor. It boosts up to 5 GHz and launches in the second half of 2027 on the SP8 platform. VRLA Tech builds custom EPYC server configurations at vrlatech.com/servers/ in Los Angeles with a 3-year parts warranty and lifetime US-based engineer support.

Does VRLA Tech offer EPYC Venice workstations for research labs?

Yes. VRLA Tech builds custom EPYC Venice workstations and GPU servers for university research labs and national laboratories. Current clients include Los Alamos National Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University, and Miami University. VRLA Tech provides capital equipment documentation for NSF, NIH, DOE, DARPA, and AFOSR grant applications within one business day. Every system ships with a 3-year parts warranty and lifetime US-based engineer support. Configure EPYC Venice research systems at vrlatech.com/hpc-servers-for-research-labs/.

Can I buy an EPYC Venice server for on-premise AI deployment?

Yes. VRLA Tech builds on-premise EPYC Venice AI servers in 1U, 2U, and 4U rack configurations. On-premise EPYC servers eliminate recurring cloud compute costs and provide fixed-cost infrastructure that often pays for itself in four to eight weeks compared to cloud GPU pricing. VRLA Tech configures systems for HIPAA-compliant healthcare, ITAR-controlled defense, and regulated finance environments requiring data sovereignty. Built in Los Angeles since 2016 with a 3-year warranty and lifetime US-based engineer support. See vrlatech.com/servers/ and vrlatech.com/ai-roi-calculator/.

What GPU servers use AMD EPYC Venice processors?

VRLA Tech builds 1U, 2U, and 4U GPU servers on the AMD EPYC 9006 Venice platform. The 4U configuration supports up to eight NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell GPUs with NVLink, powered by EPYC Venice SP7 with 128 PCIe Gen 6 lanes. The 2U supports up to four GPUs at full PCIe bandwidth. The 1U is a no-GPU option for CPU compute, virtualization, and storage. VRLA Tech builds GPU servers for General Dynamics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Johns Hopkins University in Los Angeles. 3-year warranty, lifetime US support. vrlatech.com/servers/.

VRLA Tech builds custom AI workstations, GPU servers, and HPC systems in Los Angeles. Since 2016. Clients include General Dynamics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University, and Miami University.