# The Data Center Math has Changed > Source: > Published: 2026-09-02 00:00:00+00:00 Server consolidation is a material project for IT organizations managing data center infrastructure. The objective is straightforward: move workloads from a larger number of older, less-efficient systems onto fewer, more capable servers without sacrificing performance or disrupting critical applications. Done well, consolidation improves the economics of the server estate. It can free rack space and power, reduce per-core software licensing costs, and create headroom for future growth – whether the next priority is expanding business applications, analytics or AI. ## AMD EPYC is Built for Efficiency Gains Effective consolidation depends on moving more existing workloads onto fewer servers without sacrificing performance or creating unnecessary migration complexity. AMD EPYC™ processors combine high-core density, strong per-core performance and energy efficiency on the same x86 architecture enterprises already use. This means IT teams can pursue greater consolidation without also taking on the application validation and migration considerations that can come with moving workloads to Arm®-based servers. 5th Gen AMD EPYC™ CPUs power the most energy-efficient x86 servers available. The portfolio demonstrates the capabilities available to support consolidation at scale: • High-density configurations (up to 192 cores) for running the maximum number of workloads. • High-frequency options (up to 5GHz) for maximizing performance per core and reducing licensing costs. • Balanced configurations for workloads that require both. Looking ahead, AMD expects 6th Gen AMD EPYC™ “Venice” processors will extend this density advantage further, with configurations offering up to 256 cores. That range of options helps organizations consolidate more work while matching compute to workload. And the capacity created can support what comes next, including AMD Instinct™ GPUs for AI inference and training and AMD Pensando™ networking for predictable data movement. ## Consolidation Without Losing Performance The numbers are striking. Enterprises can consolidate 100 5- to 7-year-old Intel® Xeon® Platinum 8280 dual CPU servers into 14 AMD EPYC™ 9965 CPU-based servers – an 86% reduction – while maintaining the same total performance. That can reduce power use by 69% and lower three-year total cost of ownership by 41%.[1](#fn-1) Put another way: [100 older servers x 28 cores x 2 sockets = 5,600 cores] versus [14 AMD EPYC 9965 CPU-based servers x 192 cores x 2 sockets = 5,376 cores]. Overall, this can free up a substantial amount of data center capacity. That means yards of rack space and significant kilowatts of power can be reclaimed for new workloads within the existing data center footprint – without having to add more physical infrastructure. Delivering more work per core can translate directly into lower software costs. For software licensed by socket or core – as many leading virtualization and database packages are – using fewer systems and fewer cores can potentially save millions in license and maintenance fees. When you pay for every core, getting more work from each one bends the cost curve. (This benefit does not apply in the same way to software licensed by user, device or other non-core-based models.) ## Consolidation in Practice DNSE Securities, a fast-growing online stock brokerage in Vietnam, needed cloud-like density and performance but had to keep its infrastructure on premises because of regulatory requirements. Its existing server environment could not deliver the consolidation DNSE needed to grow. After benchmarking AMD and Intel systems, DNSE deployed 3rd and 4th Gen AMD EPYC™ CPUs across its data center. It halved its number of racks and reduced power consumption from 16 to 17 kilowatts per rack to 7 to 9 kW per rack. Today, 90% of DNSE’s workloads run on AMD EPYC CPUs, with a mix of high-frequency processors for latency-sensitive trading systems and high-core-count processors for mixed containerized workloads. That flexibility – choosing the right CPU for the right job – is what lets DNSE scale without overprovisioning. As Binh Nguyen, DNSE’s chief technology officer, told us: “AMD EPYC CPU-powered servers will enable us to keep building infrastructure and running our software how we run it right now, but at a much bigger scale.” ## Creating Headroom for AI Across industries, the immediate value is measurable: the opportunity for IT to support the business with fewer servers and racks, lower power use, and lower software licensing costs. But the benefits do not stop there. Running existing business applications more efficiently can open power, space and cooling capacity for new infrastructure. For agentic AI, that headroom matters across the stack: Every agent action can trigger database queries, API calls, token generation and tool execution. Consolidating existing workloads onto fewer more efficient servers can help create the capacity to support that additional demand alongside core business applications. That flexibility becomes even more important as enterprise AI increasingly spans a distributed environment of frontier models, cloud services, on-premises infrastructure and AI-enabled clients. Different workloads may be best suited to different models and locations based on factors such as complexity, data sensitivity, latency and cost. For organizations adding AI, that may mean room to deploy accelerators within current data center limits. More broadly, it gives IT teams the flexibility to expand incrementally and match processors, accelerators and models to the work they perform best – rather than rebuilding around one model or workload. ## The CIO Imperative Server consolidation may not be the highest profile item on the CIO agenda, but it is a material, measurable project. Success can be tracked in server count, rack space, power use, licensing spend and total cost of ownership. With AMD EPYC server CPUs, IT organizations can pursue those goals without sacrificing performance or forcing one configuration across every workload. The result is a more efficient server estate today and more headroom for whatever the business needs next. **More:** Read Dan McNamara’s previous blogs: • [Agentic AI Changes the CPU/GPU Equation](https://www.amd.com/en/blogs/2026/agentic-ai-changes-the-cpu-gpu-equation.html) • [Agentic AI Isn't One Workload. It's an End-to-End Workflow.](https://www.amd.com/en/blogs/2026/agentic-ai-isnt-one-workload-its-an-end-to-end-workflow.html) - **9xx5TCO-001B** This scenario contains many assumptions and estimates and, while based on AMD internal research and best approximations, should be considered an example for information purposes only, and not used as a basis for decision making over actual testing. The AMD Server & Greenhouse Gas Emissions TCO (total cost of ownership) Estimator Tool - version 1.12, compares the selected AMD EPYC™ and Intel® Xeon® CPU based server solutions required to deliver a TOTAL_PERFORMANCE of 39100 units of SPECrate2017_int_base performance as of October 10, 2024. This scenario compares a legacy 2P Intel Xeon 28 core Platinum_8280 based server with a score of 391 versus 2P EPYC 9965 (192C) powered server with an score of 3000 ( [https://www.spec.org/cpu2017/results/res2024q4/cpu2017-20240923-44837.pdf](https://www.spec.org/cpu2017/results/res2024q4/cpu2017-20240923-44837.pdf)) along with a comparison upgrade to a 2P Intel Xeon Platinum 8592+ (64C) based server with a score of 1130 ([https://spec.org/cpu2017/results/res2024q3/cpu2017-20240701-43948.pdf](https://spec.org/cpu2017/results/res2024q3/cpu2017-20240701-43948.pdf)). Actual SPECrate®2017_int_base score for 2P EPYC 9965 will vary based on OEM publications. Environmental impact estimates made leveraging this data, using the Country / Region specific electricity factors from the 2024 International Country Specific Electricity Factors 10 – July 2024 , and the United States Environmental Protection Agency 'Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator'. For additional details, see[https://www.amd.com/en/legal/claims/epyc.html#q=epyc5#9xx5TCO-001B](https://www.amd.com/en/legal/claims/epyc.html#q=epyc5#9xx5TCO-001B) Press inquiries: [corporate.pressinquiry@amd.com](mailto:corporate.pressinquiry@amd.com)