AMD EPYC 7281 vs HiSilicon Kirin 980

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


AMD EPYC 7281 CPU1 vs CPU2 HiSilicon Kirin 980
AMD EPYC 7281 HiSilicon Kirin 980

CPU comparison

In this CPU comparison, we compare the AMD EPYC 7281 and the HiSilicon Kirin 980 and use benchmarks to check which processor is faster.

We compare the AMD EPYC 7281 16 core processor released in Q3/2017 with the HiSilicon Kirin 980 which has 8 CPU cores and was introduced in Q4/2018.
AMD EPYC (129) Family HiSilicon Kirin (29)
AMD EPYC 7001 (12) CPU group HiSilicon Kirin 980 (2)
1 Generation 7
Naples (Zen) Architecture Cortex-A76 / Cortex-A55
Desktop / Server Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The AMD EPYC 7281 is a 16 core processor with a clock frequency of 2.20 GHz (2.70 GHz). The processor can compute 32 threads at the same time. The HiSilicon Kirin 980 clocks with 2.60 GHz, has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 8 threads in parallel.

AMD EPYC 7281 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 980
16 Cores 8
32 Threads 8
normal Core architecture hybrid (Prime / big.LITTLE)
Yes Hyperthreading No
No Overclocking ? No
2.20 GHz (2.70 GHz) A-Core 2.60 GHz
2x Cortex-A76
-- B-Core 1.92 GHz
2x Cortex-A76
-- C-Core 1.80 GHz
4x Cortex-A55

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.

AMD EPYC 7281 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 980
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

Graphics (iGPU) integrated into the processor not only enable image output without having to rely on a dedicated graphics solution, but can also efficiently accelerate video playback.

no iGPU GPU ARM Mali-G76 MP10
GPU frequency 0.72 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) --
-- GPU Generation Bifrost 3
Technology 7 nm
Max. displays 2
-- Compute units 10
-- Shader 160
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory 4 GB
-- DirectX Version 12

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

no iGPU GPU ARM Mali-G76 MP10
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
No Codec AVC Decode / Encode
No Codec VC-1 Decode / Encode
No Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

Up to GB of memory in a maximum of 8 memory channels is supported by the AMD EPYC 7281, while the HiSilicon Kirin 980 supports a maximum of 8 GB of memory with a maximum memory bandwidth of -- enabled.

AMD EPYC 7281 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 980
DDR4-2666 Memory LPDDR4X-2133
Max. Memory 8 GB
8 (Octa Channel) Memory channels 4 (Quad Channel)
170.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth --
Yes ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
32.00 MB L3 Cache 2.00 MB
3.0 PCIe version --
128 PCIe lanes --
126.1 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The AMD EPYC 7281 has a TDP of 170 W. The TDP of the HiSilicon Kirin 980 is 6 W. System integrators use the TDP of the processor as a guide when dimensioning the cooling solution.

AMD EPYC 7281 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 980
170 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 6 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The AMD EPYC 7281 has 32.00 MB cache and is manufactured in 14 nm. The cache of HiSilicon Kirin 980 is at 2.00 MB. The processor is manufactured in 7 nm.

AMD EPYC 7281 Characteristic HiSilicon Kirin 980
14 nm Technology 7 nm
Chiplet Chip design Chiplet
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, FMA3 ISA extensions --
SP3 Socket --
AMD-V, SVM Virtualization None
Yes AES-NI No
Windows 10, Linux Operating systems Android
Q3/2017 Release date Q4/2018
625 $ Release price --
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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
AMD EPYC 7281 (90%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
AMD EPYC 7281 (79%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
AMD EPYC 7281 AMD EPYC 7281
16C 32T @ 2.70 GHz
664 (98%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
681 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
AMD EPYC 7281 AMD EPYC 7281
16C 32T @ 2.70 GHz
2098 (81%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
2576 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
AMD EPYC 7281 AMD EPYC 7281
16C 32T @ 2.70 GHz
713 (81%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
885 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
AMD EPYC 7281 AMD EPYC 7281
16C 32T @ 2.70 GHz
2136 (77%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
2778 (100%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
AMD EPYC 7281 AMD EPYC 7281
@ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
ARM Mali-G76 MP10 @ 0.72 GHz
520 (100%)

AnTuTu 8 Benchmark

The AnTuTu 8 Benchmark measures the performance of a SoC. AnTuTu benchmarks the CPU, GPU, Memory as well as the UX (User Experience) by simulating browser and app usage. AnTuTu can benchmark any ARM CPU that runs under Android or iOS. Devices may not be directly compareable if the benchmark has been performed under different operating systems.

In the AnTuTu 8 benchmark, the single-core performance of a processor is only slightly weighted. The evaluation consists of the multi-core performance of the processor, the speed of the RAM and the performance of the internal graphics.
AMD EPYC 7281 AMD EPYC 7281
16C 32T @ 2.20 GHz
0 (0%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
412594 (100%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
AMD EPYC 7281 AMD EPYC 7281
16C 32T @ 2.70 GHz
21988 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
AMD EPYC 7281 AMD EPYC 7281
16C 32T @ 2.70 GHz
119 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
0 (0%)

Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
AMD EPYC 7281 AMD EPYC 7281
16C 32T @ 2.70 GHz
2033 (100%)
HiSilicon Kirin 980 HiSilicon Kirin 980
8C 8T @ 2.60 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

AMD EPYC 7281 HiSilicon Kirin 980
Unknown Huawei P30
Huawei P30 Pro
Huawei Honor 20
Huawei Honor 20 Pro
Huawei Mate 20
Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Huawei Nova 5T

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