Xeon E7-2850 vs i3-540
Primary details
Comparing Core i3-540 and Xeon E7-2850 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2456 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.11 | no data |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Server |
| Series | no data | Intel Xeon E7 |
| Power efficiency | 1.26 | no data |
| Architecture codename | Clarkdale (2010−2011) | Westmere (2010−2011) |
| Release date | 7 January 2010 (14 years ago) | 5 April 2011 (13 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $45 | $2,558 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Core i3-540 and Xeon E7-2850 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 | 2 (Dual-core) | 10 (Deca-Core) |
| Threads | 4 | 20 |
| Base clock speed | 3.06 GHz | 2 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 0.07 GHz | 2.4 GHz |
| Bus type | no data | QPI |
| Bus rate | 2.5 GT/s | 6.4 GT/s |
| Multiplier | no data | 15 |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 640 KB |
| L2 cache | 256 KB (per core) | 2.56 MB |
| L3 cache | 4 MB (shared) | 24 MB |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 32 nm |
| Die size | 81 mm2 | 513 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 73 °C | 69 °C |
| Number of transistors | 382 million | 2600 Million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Core i3-540 and Xeon E7-2850 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 | 2 (Multiprocessor) |
| Socket | FCLGA1156 | LGA1567 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 73 Watt | 130 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i3-540 and Xeon E7-2850. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.2 | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2 |
| AES-NI | - | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | 1.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | + |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Thermal Monitoring | - | + |
| Demand Based Switching | - | no data |
| PAE | 36 Bit | no data |
| FDI | + | no data |
| Status | Discontinued | Discontinued |
Security technologies
Core i3-540 and Xeon E7-2850 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | - | + |
| EDB | + | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i3-540 and Xeon E7-2850 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | no data | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i3-540 and Xeon E7-2850. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR3-800, DDR3-978, DDR3-1066, DDR3-1333, Speed-1066 |
| Maximum memory size | 16.38 GB | 1 TB |
| Max memory channels | 2 | 4 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 21 GB/s | 34.113 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Intel® HD Graphics for Previous Generation Intel® Processors | no data |
| Clear Video HD | + | no data |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Core i3-540 and Xeon E7-2850 integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | 2 | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i3-540 and Xeon E7-2850.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | no data |
| PCI Express lanes | 16 | no data |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 7 January 2010 | 5 April 2011 |
| Physical cores | 2 | 10 |
| Threads | 4 | 20 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 73 Watt | 130 Watt |
i3-540 has 78.1% lower power consumption.
Xeon E7-2850, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 1 year, and 400% more physical cores and 400% more threads.
We couldn't decide between Core i3-540 and Xeon E7-2850. We've got no test results to judge.
Note that Core i3-540 is a desktop processor while Xeon E7-2850 is a server/workstation one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core i3-540 and Xeon E7-2850, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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