AMD's upcoming EPYC "Verano" processor will reportedly use a dedicated SB1 socket rather than the SP7 or SP8 sockets found on its other EPYC chips, according to a Tom's Hardware report. The chip is positioned as a host CPU for AI servers, where the processor coordinates work running on AI accelerators instead of delivering maximum general-purpose performance on its own. AMD has not disclosed SB1's specifications, dimensions, or capabilities. The news affects server makers and data-center operators planning AI systems around AMD's Instinct accelerators.
Verano is unusual compared with conventional EPYC parts. It will carry up to 72 Zen 6 cores running at up to 5 GHz, along with a 24-channel LPDDR5X memory subsystem built on replaceable SOCAMM2 modules. AMD's decision to develop SB1 instead of using SP7, which supports up to 256-core EPYC "Venice" processors, or SP8, intended for models with up to 128 cores, may stem from that specialization.
Because Verano serves a narrow role as a host for AI accelerators, AMD may not need the broad range of SKUs typical of its general-purpose EPYC families. If the chip ships in systems with a fixed number of Instinct accelerators, AMD could offer one or a small number of configurations to keep a consistent ratio of CPU cores, memory bandwidth, and host-to-accelerator connectivity per GPU, while simplifying power, cooling, and system qualification. Nvidia follows a similar approach with its Grace and Vera processors. A dedicated SB1 socket could be tuned for one or a few SKUs, their 24-channel LPDDR5X subsystem, and a specific system topology. AMD has not said how many Verano SKUs it plans to offer, and Tom's Hardware characterized that reasoning as speculation.
A preliminary cooler from Dynatron offers an early look at Verano's thermal needs. The SB1-4U-Active unit measures 128.05 by 106.6 by 130.7 mm and pairs an aluminum fin stack with a vapor chamber and heat pipes. It uses a double-ball-bearing fan rated at up to 6,000 RPM and up to 91.7 CFM of airflow.
Those specifications closely match Dynatron's J26 4U cooler for AMD's larger SP7 CPUs, down to similar dimensions. That could mean Dynatron reused the J26 design for SB1, or that it copied J26's specifications onto the SB1-4U-Active product page as placeholders until the cooler is finalized.
Dynatron does not currently list a maximum supported processor power for the cooler, so the listing cannot be used to determine Verano's TDP with confidence. Even so, a large 4U active cooler built around a vapor chamber suggests Verano will be a server processor with relatively high power consumption, despite having far fewer cores than the higher-end EPYC "Venice" chips aimed at general-purpose workloads.
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