Xeon E5-2640 v3 vs i7-3960X Extreme Edition
Aggregate performance score
Xeon E5-2640 v3 outperforms Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition by a significant 25% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Xeon E5-2640 v3 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 1141 | 998 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Server |
| Series | Intel Core i7EE | no data |
| Power efficiency | 4.07 | 7.37 |
| Architecture codename | Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) | Haswell-EP (2014−2015) |
| Release date | 14 November 2011 (13 years ago) | 8 September 2014 (10 years ago) |
Detailed specifications
Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Xeon E5-2640 v3 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 | 6 (Hexa-Core) | 8 (Octa-Core) |
| Threads | 12 | 16 |
| Base clock speed | no data | 2.6 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.3 GHz | 3.4 GHz |
| Bus type | DMI 2.0 | no data |
| Bus rate | 5 GT/s | 8 GT/s |
| Multiplier | 33 | no data |
| L1 cache | no data | 64K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 1,536 KB | 256K (per core) |
| L3 cache | 15 MB | 20 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 22 nm |
| Die size | 434.72 mm2 | 356 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 74 °C |
| Number of transistors | 2270 Million | 2,600 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Xeon E5-2640 v3 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 (Uniprocessor) | 2 |
| Socket | no data | FCLGA2011 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 130 Watt | 90 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Xeon E5-2640 v3. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® AVX2 |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | + |
| vPro | no data | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| 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 | + |
| PAE | no data | 46 Bit |
Security technologies
Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Xeon E5-2640 v3 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | + |
| EDB | no data | + |
| Secure Key | no data | + |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Xeon E5-2640 v3 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 Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Xeon E5-2640 v3. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | no data | DDR4-1600, DDR4-1866 |
| Maximum memory size | 64 GB | 768 GB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 4 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | no data | 59 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Xeon E5-2640 v3.
| PCIe version | 2.00 | 3.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 40 | 40 |
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 5.59 | 7.01 |
| Recency | 14 November 2011 | 8 September 2014 |
| Physical cores | 6 | 8 |
| Threads | 12 | 16 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 22 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 130 Watt | 90 Watt |
Xeon E5-2640 v3 has a 25.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, 33.3% more physical cores and 33.3% more threads, a 45.5% more advanced lithography process, and 44.4% lower power consumption.
The Xeon E5-2640 v3 is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition in performance tests.
Note that Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition is a desktop processor while Xeon E5-2640 v3 is a server/workstation one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition and Xeon E5-2640 v3, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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