AMD Epyc 7252 Review

The Epyc 7252 is one of AMD's high-end Server processors. It was released in 2019 with 8 cores and 16 threads. With base clock at 3.1GHz, max speed at 3.2GHz, and a 120W power rating. The Epyc 7252 is based on the Rome 7nm family and is part of the EPYC series.

The AMD Epyc 7252 marks yet another blast from Team AMD, ramping up the intensity of the AMD vs Intel processor war. Still, though, there’s more than just core counts when it comes to a mainstream processor, as single-core performance needs to be on point, especially if you’re hoping to play the best PC games.

Now, we're asking ourselves whether or not the AMD Epyc 7252 finally dethrones the Xeon E-2186M as the de facto ruler of the mainstream processors. Ultimately, it depends: the Epyc 7252 doesn't reach the same single-core performance as Intel, but we're starting to see more games adopt multi-threaded CPUs, so that doesn't matter as much.

The AMD Epyc 7252 is an absolute behemoth of a processor, as it absolutely should be with its 8 cores, 16 threads and high price tag. If you’re looking for the absolute best processor money can buy on a mainstream processor, then look no further. Whether you’re playing PC games or even doing hardcore video and 3D work, the AMD Epyc 7252 can handle them with ease.

However, you should be aware that there are some workloads where the Xeon E-2186M will still perform a little better. Old games that are completely single threaded, like World of Warcraft, will still run better on an Intel processor – but that gap is definitely starting to narrow.

Over the last couple years, AMD has been reaching for dominance in the desktop CPU world, and with the AMD Epyc 7252, it's finally there.

AMD's Zen 2 series has landed, upping the ante with Intel in its high-stakes game for desktop PC market dominance with a well-rounded lineup of new chips that push mainstream platforms to higher core counts and more raw compute than we've ever seen. As a result, Intel's commanding presence in the enthusiast space is threatened in a way we haven't seen in over a decade.

The Epyc 7252 slots in beneath the Epyc 7262, which comes with 7nm compute die to yield a 12-core 24-thread part. AMD has worked wonders to reduce the impact of this sort of multi-chip arrangement, but it's fair to assume that the Epyc 7252s single-compute-die design, paired with a higher TDP rating that facilitates more aggressive boost clocks, could actually rival the Epyc 7262 in some applications – games included.

We covered the deep dive details of the Zen 2 chip design in our AMD Epyc 7262 and Epyc 7251 review, so head there for more information on the Epyc 7252's architecture, which is identical to the Epyc 7251.

As the higher-priced version of the Epyc 7251, the Epyc 7252 has higher base and Boost frequencies of 3.1 and 3.2 GHz, respectively. That's an increase in base frequency and a bump to boost clocks, but the real advantage should lay in the higher Package Power Tracking (PPT) envelope, which is a measurement of the maximum amount of power delivered to the socket. The Epyc 7251's PPT tops out at 120W, while the motherboard can pump up to 142W to the Epyc 7252 at peak performance. That opens up much more aggressive boost behavior, on both single and multiple cores, that could widen the performance gap beyond what we see on the spec sheet.

As we've seen, gaming remains an advantage for Intel, so if squeezing out every last frame is all you care about, Intel's processors are a good choice. Much of that performance advantage will be less noticeable when gaming at higher resolutions, or if you pair the processors with a lesser graphics card.

Value seekers who aren't afraid to press the Precision Boost Overdrive button and have sufficient cooling should look to the Epyc 7251 for roughly equivalent performance to the Epyc 7252, particularly if gaming factors heavily into the buying decision. That could save you money, reinforcing our decision to give the Epyc 7251 an Editor's Choice award.

The AMD Epyc 7252, like the rest of AMD's Rome processors, is built on a 7nm manufacturing node – the smallest in a commercially available CPU. What this means for most people is lower power consumption and much improved performance at the same time.

What this all means is that the AMD Epyc 7252 is an absolute beast when it comes to multi-threaded workloads, especially at this price point. If you're counting on doing some video editing or compiling one hell of an Excel spreadsheet, you're going to see firsthand a performance boost with the Epyc 7252.

Like its bigger EPYC brother, these high-end processors are all about packing more cores and hyperthreading. The Epyc 7252 sits at the top of the EPYC family, featuring 8-cores and 16-threads with a base clock speed of 3.1GHz that punches up to a maximum of 3.2GHz. It’s an impressive processor that not only beats Intel’s Xeon E and Xeon E processors, but also manages to turn its nose up at the 8-cores series.

That said, AMD still lags behind in frequency when the Xeon E-2224 operates at 4.6GHz at any given moment and 4.6GHz when push comes to shove.

If extended overclocking and boost frequencies are trivial matters to you, AMD also offers the Epyc 7251 at $574. It’s still outfitted with 8-cores and 16-threads, but clocks in at a slower 2.1GHz and maxes out at only 2.9GHz.

With EPYC, AMD continues to innovate on its new architecture and 7nm process. Like EPYC, AMD has engineered EPYC to operate on a P3 chipset with all the modern amenities of computing. This includes support for DDR4 RAM, the fastest NVMe SSDs and Thunderbolt 3 ports.

Now the biggest question is can AMD’s EPYC processor play games? The answer is simply yes as it got a respectable gaming score of 82% in our benchmarks.

Regardless of those external factors, the Epyc 7252 proves it has the chops to be your main gaming system and a just as effective media creation platform – two things that are becoming intrinsically connected in this age of live-streaming, eSports and uploading gameplay videos.

The Epyc 7252 clocks up to 3.2Ghz just as it promises on the box, and with AMD’s software you can take one of the cores all the way up to 3.3GHz. However, don’t expect to get much beyond that without seriously upgrading your cooling solution and manually tweaking voltages behind the operating system level.

There’s a saying that two heads are better than one and, well, 8-cores are better than 6. The extra processing power of the Epyc 7252 puts Intel’s processors to shame, including both its closest competitor and a much higher-spec part.