Xeon 656 vs 5 120U
Contents
Primary details
Comparing processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 1002 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Server |
| Series | Raptor Lake-U | no data |
| Power efficiency | 25.56 | no data |
| Designer | Intel | Intel |
| Manufacturer | Intel | Intel |
| Architecture codename | Raptor Lake-U Refresh (2024) | Granite Rapids (2024−2026) |
| Release date | 8 January 2024 (2 years ago) | 2 February 2026 (recently) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $1,399 |
Detailed specifications
Core 5 120U and Xeon 656 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 | 10 (Deca-Core) | 20 (Icosa-Core) |
| Performance-cores | 2 | 20 |
| Efficient-cores | 8 | no data |
| Threads | 12 | 40 |
| Base clock speed | 1.4 GHz | 2.9 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 5 GHz | 4.8 GHz |
| Bus rate | 55 MHz | 0 GT/s |
| L1 cache | 80 KB (per core) | 112 KB (per core) |
| L2 cache | 1.25 MB (per core) | 2 MB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 12 MB (shared) | 72 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 10 nm | Intel 3 nm |
| Die size | no data | 2x 598 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 100 °C | no data |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 74 °C |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Unlocked multiplier | - | + |
Compatibility
Information on Core 5 120U and Xeon 656 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 | 1 | 1 |
| Socket | FCBGA1744 | FCLGA4710 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 15 Watt | 210 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core 5 120U and Xeon 656. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2 | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® AMX, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512 |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | + |
| vPro | + | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Speed Shift | + | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | + |
| TSX | + | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | - |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | - | + |
| Deep Learning Boost | + | + |
Security technologies
Core 5 120U and Xeon 656 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | + |
| EDB | + | + |
| SGX | no data | - |
| OS Guard | + | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core 5 120U and Xeon 656 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | + | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core 5 120U and Xeon 656. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR5-5200, DDR4-3200, LPDDR4X-4267 | DDR5(6400MT/s) |
| Maximum memory size | 96 GB | 4 TB |
| Max memory channels | 2 | 8 |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Intel® Graphics | N/A |
| Quick Sync Video | + | - |
| Graphics max frequency | 1.3 GHz | no data |
| Execution Units | 80 | no data |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Core 5 120U and Xeon 656 integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | 4 | no data |
Graphics image quality
Maximum display resolutions supported by Core 5 120U and Xeon 656 integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.
| Max resolution over HDMI 1.4 | 4096 x 2304 @ 60Hz | no data |
| Max resolution over eDP | 4096 x 2304 @ 120Hz | no data |
| Max resolution over DisplayPort | 7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz | no data |
Graphics API support
APIs supported by Core 5 120U and Xeon 656 integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.
| DirectX | 12.1 | no data |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core 5 120U and Xeon 656.
| PCIe version | 4.0 | 5.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 8 | 128 |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 8 January 2024 | 2 February 2026 |
| Physical cores | 10 | 20 |
| Threads | 12 | 40 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 15 Watt | 210 Watt |
5 120U has 1300% lower power consumption.
Xeon 656, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 2 years, and 100% more physical cores and 233.3% more threads.
We couldn't decide between Intel Core 5 120U and Intel Xeon 656. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that Core 5 120U is a notebook processor while Xeon 656 is a server/workstation one.
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