Huawei’s HiSilicon Taishan V120 server CPU benchmark results have been leaked online, showcasing a performance that rivals AMD’s Zen 3 cores from four years ago. The findings on Geekbench hint at Huawei’s chip technology keeping pace with leading CPU manufacturers like AMD and Intel. The Taishan V120 core, initially featured in Huawei’s Kirin 9000s smartphone chip, appears to be built on the second-generation 7nm node. The recent Geekbench 6 results suggest that the Taishan V120 core could be a Kunpeng server CPU, potentially the Kunpeng 930, given its strong single-core performance.
Despite the promising benchmark scores, the exact CPU model tested remains unidentified, with the reference to “Huawei Cloud OpenStack Nova” on the benchmark pages. This ambiguity has sparked speculation within the tech community. The Kunpeng 930, announced in 2019, has been somewhat elusive, with reports suggesting a potential launch on TSMC’s 5nm in 2021, followed by the Kunpeng 950 on TSMC’s 3nm in 2023. However, these plans were likely derailed due to Huawei’s ban from manufacturing at TSMC.
The benchmarks were conducted on a single core, indicating that the chip might have been tested on a virtual machine or a similar setup. As a result, the multi-core performance may not be accurately reflected in the scores. In the single-core performance test, the Taishan V120 CPU scored 1,527, falling slightly behind AMD’s Epyc 7413 and Intel’s Xeon E-2136. It was notably outperformed by the Epyc 9554 and the Xeon w9-3495X.
Without comprehensive data on multi-threaded performance, power consumption, and efficiency, it’s challenging to assess the overall competitiveness of the Taishan V120 cores. High power consumption, regardless of speed, could potentially deter users due to increased electricity costs. The tech industry eagerly awaits further information and benchmarks to gain a clearer understanding of Huawei’s HiSilicon Taishan V120 server CPU’s capabilities.
