Xeon E5-1603 v4 vs i7-970
Aggregate performance score
Core i7-970 outperforms Xeon E5-1603 v4 by a substantial 39% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
Comparing processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 1680 | 1951 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.32 | no data |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Server |
| Series | no data | Intel Xeon E5 |
| Power efficiency | 1.22 | 0.81 |
| Designer | Intel | Intel |
| Manufacturer | Intel | no data |
| Architecture codename | Gulftown (2010−2011) | Broadwell (2015−2019) |
| Release date | 19 July 2010 (15 years ago) | 20 June 2016 (9 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $662 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Performance to price scatter graph
Detailed specifications
Core i7-970 and Xeon E5-1603 v4 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) | 4 (Quad-Core) |
| Threads | 12 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | 3.2 GHz | 2.8 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.46 GHz | 2.8 GHz |
| Bus type | no data | DMI 2.0 |
| Bus rate | 4.8 GT/s | 5 GT/s |
| Multiplier | no data | 28 |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | no data |
| L2 cache | 256 KB (per core) | 1 MB |
| L3 cache | 12 MB (shared) | 10 MB |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 14 nm |
| Die size | 239 mm2 | 246.24 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 68 °C | 69 °C |
| Number of transistors | 1,170 million | 3200 Million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Core i7-970 and Xeon E5-1603 v4 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 (Uniprocessor) |
| Socket | FCLGA1366 | FCLGA2011-3 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 130 Watt | 140 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-970 and Xeon E5-1603 v4. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.2 | Intel® AVX2 |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | - | + |
| vPro | no data | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 1.0 | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | - |
| TSX | - | + |
| Idle States | + | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | - | + |
| Flex Memory Access | no data | - |
| Demand Based Switching | - | + |
| PAE | 36 Bit | 46 Bit |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | no data | - |
Security technologies
Core i7-970 and Xeon E5-1603 v4 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | - | + |
| EDB | + | + |
| Secure Key | no data | + |
| Identity Protection | - | + |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-970 and Xeon E5-1603 v4 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | no data | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-970 and Xeon E5-1603 v4. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR4-1600, DDR4-1866, DDR4-2133 |
| Maximum memory size | 24 GB | 1.5 TB |
| Max memory channels | 3 | 4 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 25.6 GB/s | 68 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-970 and Xeon E5-1603 v4.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | 3.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 40 |
Synthetic benchmarks
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.
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. Other than that, Passmark measures multi-core performance.
GeekBench 5 Single-Core
GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.
GeekBench 5 Multi-Core
GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 3.75 | 2.69 |
| Recency | 19 July 2010 | 20 June 2016 |
| Physical cores | 6 | 4 |
| Threads | 12 | 4 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 130 Watt | 140 Watt |
i7-970 has a 39% higher aggregate performance score, 50% more physical cores and 200% more threads, and 8% lower power consumption.
Xeon E5-1603 v4, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 5 years, and a 129% more advanced lithography process.
The Intel Core i7-970 is our recommended choice as it beats the Intel Xeon E5-1603 v4 in performance tests.
Note that Core i7-970 is a desktop processor while Xeon E5-1603 v4 is a server/workstation one.
Other comparisons
We've compiled a selection of CPU comparisons, ranging from closely matched processors to other comparisons that may be of interest.
