Xeon Gold 6542Y vs Apple M2
Primary details
Comparing M2 and Xeon Gold 6542Y processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 813 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Server |
| Series | Apple Apple M-Series | no data |
| Power efficiency | 44.48 | no data |
| Architecture codename | no data | Emerald Rapids (2023) |
| Release date | 10 June 2022 (2 years ago) | 14 December 2023 (1 year ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $2,878 |
Detailed specifications
M2 and Xeon Gold 6542Y 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) | 24 (Tetracosa-Core) |
| Threads | 8 | 48 |
| Base clock speed | 2.424 GHz | 2.9 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.48 GHz | 4.1 GHz |
| L1 cache | 2 MB | 80 KB (per core) |
| L2 cache | 20 MB | 2 MB (per core) |
| L3 cache | no data | 60 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 5 nm | Intel 7 nm |
| Die size | no data | 2x 763 mm2 |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 83 °C |
| Number of transistors | 20000 Million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
Compatibility
Information on M2 and Xeon Gold 6542Y 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 | FCLGA4677 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 20 Watt | 250 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by M2 and Xeon Gold 6542Y. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® AMX, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512 |
| AES-NI | - | + |
| AVX | - | + |
| vPro | no data | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | + |
| Speed Shift | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | no data | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | no data | + |
| TSX | - | + |
| Deep Learning Boost | - | + |
Security technologies
M2 and Xeon Gold 6542Y technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | + |
| EDB | no data | + |
| SGX | no data | Yes with Intel® SPS |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by M2 and Xeon Gold 6542Y 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 Gold 6542Y. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | no data | DDR5-5200 |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 4 TB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 8 |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Apple M2 10-Core GPU ( - 1398 MHz) | N/A |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by M2 and Xeon Gold 6542Y.
| PCIe version | no data | 5.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 80 |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 10 June 2022 | 14 December 2023 |
| Physical cores | 8 | 24 |
| Threads | 8 | 48 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 20 Watt | 250 Watt |
Apple M2 has 1150% lower power consumption.
Xeon Gold 6542Y, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 1 year, and 200% more physical cores and 500% more threads.
We couldn't decide between M2 and Xeon Gold 6542Y. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that Apple M2 is a notebook processor while Xeon Gold 6542Y is a server/workstation one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Apple M2 and Xeon Gold 6542Y, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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