NVIDIA’s Vera CPU outperforms AMD EPYC and Intel Xeon in first performance tests
The first benchmarks of NVIDIA’s Vera processor have been released by Phoronix, revealing significantly superior performance to AMD’s x86 chips and Intel. The ARM architecture-based CPU, equipped with 88 custom Olympus cores, achieved a 63% advantage over its predecessor, the 72-core Grace CPU. In direct comparison, the Vera was 10% faster than AMD’s EPYC 9575F, which has 64 Zen 5 cores operating at 5 GHz, and surpassed the Intel Xeon 6980P by 55%, despite the latter having 128 cores of the Granite Rapids architecture.
The tests used the Geomean metric of all results, in which the Vera CPU achieved a score of 26.40, while the EPYC 9575F achieved 23.79. Esses numbers represent an important milestone in the server processor market, historical dominance of Intel and AMD.
Projeto optimized for agentic AI and inference
The Vera is a processor specifically designed for agentic AI and inference applications, with promises of 50% better performance, twice the energy efficiency and four times the density per rack compared to traditional x86 CPUs. NVIDIA recently announced that the Vera CPUs are now in full production, with deliveries of the first racks to technology giants such as CoreWeave, Meta, Oracle and Alibaba, consolidating its entry into a new standalone processor market.
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Esses processors are part of the Extreme Co-Design ecosystem that leverages NVIDIA’s Rubin platform, marking the company’s foray into a segment previously dominated by traditional manufacturers. The competitive scenario points to growing demands in the agentic AI segment, where specialized processors gain relevance.
Métricas of efficiency still under secrecy
Alguns critical indicators remained missing from initial testing. Phoronix confirmed that it did not receive authorization to perform or disclose performance per watt (energy efficiency) tests, fundamental aspects for data center evaluations. The Vera module used in testing was pre-production hardware, suggesting that optimizations and power consumption adjustments are still in progress before full commercial release.
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The North American company signaled ambitious expectations for 2026. Analistas speculate that the Vera CPUs should capture significant share of the Intel and AMD server segments, especially in agentic AI applications. Phoronix’s conclusion highlights that this is the “most performing ARM processor for Linux servers” that the publication has ever tested.
Competição fierce in the processor market
The CPU market for AI servers sees an accelerated movement of competitors. AMD is preparing to launch its EPYC Venice, based on the Zen 6 architecture, which is already in mass production and is scheduled for the second half of 2026. Intel advances with its Diamond Rapids platform, while Qualcomm and Arm develop their own specific processors for data centers in the agentic AI segment.
Demand for Vera is described as massive, particularly among companies that already use NVIDIA infrastructure for AI workloads. The availability of the first standalone CPUs, not tied to Rubin racks, expands the company’s market potential.
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Especificações techniques and differences from Vera
The technical structure of the Vera reflects aggressive design decisions. The 88 custom Olympus cores operate with balanced frequency gains and cache capacity optimized for AI workloads. Color density per socket has increased significantly over the previous generation, enabling greater parallelism in real-time inference operations.
- 88 custom Olympus ARM cores
- Suporte the low latency memory architecture for agentic AI payloads
- Consumo expected energy between 200-300W per socket (estimated)
- Compatibilidade with Linux software stack
- High-density Empacotamento for multi-processor racks
- Memory Transfer Taxa Optimized for Large Language Models
NVIDIA projects that the Vera will generate revenue of approximately $20 billion in 2026, consolidating the company as the largest CPU supplier in the world, as reported in internal communications. The strategic maneuver puts concrete pressure on x86 manufacturers, who have historically controlled the enterprise server market.
