Windows Server: Installation and Support for the AMD Rome Family of Processors

Table of Contents

1. Description 
2. AMD Processor SKU Support
3. Installing Windows Server on a Server that uses AMD EPYC 7xx2 (AMD Rome) processors
4. Troubleshooting
5. Further Information
    

Description 

This article provides installation instructions for the Windows Server operating system for AMD EPYC 7xx2 processors and describes known limitations to the support for these processors.

Windows Server support according to Microsoft:

• Windows Server 2019: Supports AMD EPYC 7xx2-series CPUs. Use the Windows Server 2019 refreshed media image released early October 2019 from the appropriate licensing channel as applicable.
• Windows Server 2016: Supports AMD EPYC 7xx2-series CPUs. The support is limited to no more than 255 logical processors. Windows Server 2016 does not support X2APIC mode, and you should disable this mode in the computer's basic input/output system (BIOS).
• Windows Server 2012R2: Supports AMD EPYC 7xx2-series CPUs. The support is limited to no more than 255 logical processors. Windows Server 2012 R2 does not support X2APIC mode, and you should disable this mode in the computer's BIOS.

AMD Processor SKU support

The following table lists support for each AMD processor SKU and Windows Server version.

Table 1: AMD processor SKU and supported Windows Server version.

Installing Windows Server on a Server that uses AMD EPYC 7xx2 (AMD Rome) processors

To install Windows Server on a server that uses AMD EPYC 7xx2 (AMD Rome) processors, follow these steps:

• In the server BIOS, disable the SMT settings (such as the logical processors setting).

 
Figure 1: Processor Settings page showing location of logical processor settings

F2 -> System BIOS -> Processor Settings -> Logical Processor -> Disabled.

• In the server BIOS, disable the x2APIC setting.

 
Figure 2: Processor Settings page showing location of x2APIC Mode enablement

F2 -> System BIOS -> Processor Settings -> x2APIC Mode -> Disabled.

• Use the operating system media to install Windows Server.

• Install the latest Windows Server updates for the respective Windows Server operating system that you installed.

Troubleshooting

Known UI limitations for Windows Server task manager, WMI, or PowerShell queries to pull CPU information.

Task Manager does not display L2 and L3 cache sizes, or displays incorrect L2 and L3 cache sizes.

 
Figure 3: Task Manager showing inaccurate or missing L1, L2, and L3 cache sizes

Task Manager displays an incorrect number of sockets.

For example, for a single-CPU one-socket system, Task Manager displays two sockets. For a two-socket system, Task Manager displays four sockets.

The task manager displays an incorrect number of Numa nodes.

For example, for a one-socket system, Task Manager displays two Numa nodes. For a two-socket system, Task Manager displays four Numa nodes.

Figure 4: Task Manager showing CPU activity and Numa nodes
 

Further Information

For further information about this issue, consult this article from Microsoft Support.