Xeon E5-2660 vs Apple M2
Aggregate performance score
Apple M2 outperforms Xeon E5-2660 by an impressive 83% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing M2 and Xeon E5-2660 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 814 | 1209 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 6.78 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Server |
| Series | Apple Apple M-Series | no data |
| Power efficiency | 44.48 | 5.12 |
| Architecture codename | no data | Sandy Bridge-EP (2012) |
| Release date | 10 June 2022 (2 years ago) | 6 March 2012 (12 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $85 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
M2 and Xeon E5-2660 basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.
| Physical cores | 8 (Octa-Core) | 8 (Octa-Core) |
| Threads | 8 | 16 |
| Base clock speed | 2.424 GHz | 2.2 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.48 GHz | 3 GHz |
| Bus rate | no data | 8 GT/s |
| L1 cache | 2 MB | 64 KB (per core) |
| L2 cache | 20 MB | 256 KB (per core) |
| L3 cache | no data | 20480 KB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 5 nm | 32 nm |
| Die size | no data | 435 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 73 °C |
| Number of transistors | 20000 Million | 2,270 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | no data | - |
Compatibility
Information on M2 and Xeon E5-2660 compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.
| Number of CPUs in a configuration | no data | 2 |
| Socket | no data | FCLGA2011 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 20 Watt | 95 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by M2 and Xeon E5-2660. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® AVX |
| AES-NI | - | + |
| AVX | - | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | no data | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | no data | + |
| Idle States | no data | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | - | + |
| Flex Memory Access | no data | - |
| Demand Based Switching | no data | + |
Security technologies
M2 and Xeon E5-2660 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | + |
| EDB | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by M2 and Xeon E5-2660 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | no data | + |
| VT-x | no data | + |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by M2 and Xeon E5-2660. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | no data | DDR3 |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 384 GB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 4 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | no data | 51.2 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Apple M2 10-Core GPU ( - 1398 MHz) | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by M2 and Xeon E5-2660.
| PCIe version | no data | 3.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 40 |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.
Combined synthetic benchmark score
This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.
Passmark
Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 9.40 | 5.14 |
| Recency | 10 June 2022 | 6 March 2012 |
| Threads | 8 | 16 |
| Chip lithography | 5 nm | 32 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 20 Watt | 95 Watt |
Apple M2 has a 82.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 10 years, a 540% more advanced lithography process, and 375% lower power consumption.
Xeon E5-2660, on the other hand, has 100% more threads.
The M2 is our recommended choice as it beats the Xeon E5-2660 in performance tests.
Be aware that Apple M2 is a notebook processor while Xeon E5-2660 is a server/workstation one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Apple M2 and Xeon E5-2660, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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