Review: An 88,000-yuan Server, Intel Xeon 6980P – A 128-core, 256-thread Performance Beast- Zeruns's Blog

Benchmarking an 88,000 RMB Server: Intel Xeon 6980P, a 128-Core, 256-Thread, 256GB Memory Performance Beast

This server is a custom bare-metal physical machine built by Haoliang Cloud Engine for a client. I was given the opportunity to test it before final delivery.

Benchmark video: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1JVuzzJEJ6/

If you have similar requirements, feel free to register through my referral link below and submit a support ticket for inquiries!

Let's open Task Manager and count the squares together!

AMD R9 9950X & MSI B850M MORTAR WIFI Motherboard Unboxing: https://blog.zeruns.com/archives/881.html
Ultra7-265K & Gigabyte Z890M AORUS ELITE WIFI7 Motherboard Unboxing: https://blog.zeruns.com/archives/863.html
Apple Mac Mini M4 Review and Teardown – The Most Powerful Mini PC for Single-Core Tasks: https://blog.zeruns.com/archives/851.html

Specifications

CPU: Intel® Xeon® 6 6980P
Cooler: LGA7529 heatsink
Motherboard: MA34-CP0
Memory: 8x SK Hynix 32GB DDR5 6400MHz ECC REG
System Drives: 2x Intel P5530 960GB (RAID1)
Power Supply: 1600W (1+1) Redundant PSU
Chassis: Custom 4U 8-bay rackmount case
RAID Card: LSI 9540-8i
RAID Cables: 1-to-2 NVMe splitter cables

About Haoliang Cloud Engine

Haoliang Cloud Engine is fully licensed by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology with ISP, IDC, and CDN certifications. Reliable and fully compliant.

Ningbo Haoliang Cloud Engine Network Technology Co., Ltd. is a high-tech enterprise specializing in cloud computing. The brand "Haoliang Cloud Engine" provides comprehensive, stable, and secure cloud solutions for both businesses and individuals. Its core offerings include cloud servers, cloud storage, data management, and security services. With robust technical capabilities and deep industry experience, it delivers scalable and efficient cloud platforms. Guided by the philosophy of "technology-driven innovation," Haoliang helps companies streamline IT infrastructure, enhance business agility, and reduce operation costs. From startups to large enterprises, it offers tailored cloud solutions that empower digital transformation. As an emerging force in China's cloud market, Haoliang remains committed to technological innovation and service excellence, aiming to build a secure, reliable, and high-performance cloud ecosystem.

Register for Haoliang Cloud Engine here:https://www.haoliangyun.com/?source=blog-en&aff=zeruns

Referral Code: zeruns (Use the link or code to receive a 50% discount coupon upon registration)

Other high-performance server recommendations:https://blog.vpszj.cn/archives/41.html

Server Photos

About the 6980P Processor

The Intel® Xeon® 6980P is part of Intel's latest generation of Xeon processors. According to official documentation and tech media reports, the Xeon 6900P series (Granite Ridge architecture) was officially launched in Q3 2024, targeting high-performance computing and AI-heavy workloads.

Architecture & Fabrication
The 6980P uses a disaggregated modular design: compute tiles are built on Intel 3 process and I/O tiles on Intel 7, integrated via EMIB packaging. This boosts core density and improves power efficiency. Its 128-core/256-thread setup matches AMD‘’s EPYC 97x4 (Zen4c), ranking it among the most powerful x86 server processors.
Performance Specs
- Cache & Clock: 504MB L3 cache (~4MB per core), base clock 2.0GHz, all-core turbo 3.2GHz, single-core boost 3.9GHz, TDP 500W.
- Memory & Expansion: Supports 12-channel DDR5 6400MHz memory (up to 8800MHz with MRDIMM), 96x PCIe 5.0/CXL 2.0 lanes, and 6x QPI 2.0 links (24GT/s).
- Acceleration: Built-in AMX (Advanced Matrix Extensions), DSA (Data Streaming Accelerator), and more. AI inference is up to 3x faster than the previous gen; HPC performance up to 2.5x higher.
Target Applications
As part of the Xeon 6 P-Core lineup, the 6980P is designed for high-density compute and high-throughput use cases, such as AI training, HPC, and financial modeling. The 504MB cache and 12-channel memory configuration make it ideal for handling large datasets and complex algorithms.

Performance Benchmarks

CPU-Z

CPU-Z scores: Single-core 647.1, Multi-core 84800.4, Multithreading ratio 131.05
(For reference, my personal PC with Ryzen 9950X scored: single-core 868, multi-core 17428.1)

CPU-Z Download:https://url.zeruns.com/cpuz

CINEBENCH R23

CINEBENCH R23 scores: Single-core 1505 pts, Multi-core 86395 pts
(My Ryzen 9950X scores: Single-core 2183 pts, Multi-core 43266 pts)

AIDA64 Memory Benchmark

Using AIDA64 to test memory and cache read/write speeds and latency:
Memory Read: 281GB/s, Write: 180GB/s, Latency: 109ns
(My PC's dual-channel DDR5-6400: Read: 84GB/s, Write: 90GB/s, Latency: 80ns)

SSD Benchmark

Tested using AS SSD Benchmark. Drives are two 960GB Intel P5530 U.2 SSDs in RAID1.
Sequential Read: 3852MB/s, Sequential Write: 861MB/s
4K Random Read: 13MB/s, 4K Random Write: 93MB/s

目录CONTENT

Review: An 88,000-yuan Server, Intel Xeon 6980P – A 128-core, 256-thread Performance Beast