Xeon Gold 5120 vs i9-7980XE
Aggregate performance score
Core i9-7980XE outperforms Xeon Gold 5120 by an impressive 64% 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 | 384 | 796 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 2.50 | 3.68 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Server |
| Series | Intel Core i9 | Intel Xeon Gold |
| Power efficiency | 4.35 | 4.18 |
| Designer | Intel | Intel |
| Manufacturer | Intel | no data |
| Architecture codename | Skylake (server) (2017−2018) | Skylake (server) (2017−2018) |
| Release date | 1 September 2017 (7 years ago) | 11 July 2017 (7 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1,999 | $1,555 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Xeon Gold 5120 has 47% better value for money than i9-7980XE.
Performance to price scatter graph
Detailed specifications
Core i9-7980XE and Xeon Gold 5120 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 | 18 (Octadeca-Core) | 14 (Tetradeca-Core) |
| Threads | 36 | 28 |
| Base clock speed | 2.6 GHz | 2.2 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 4.4 GHz | 3.2 GHz |
| Bus type | DMI 3.0 | no data |
| Bus rate | 4 × 8 GT/s | no data |
| Multiplier | no data | 22 |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 896 KB |
| L2 cache | 1 MB (per core) | 14 MB |
| L3 cache | 24.75 MB (shared) | 19.25 MB |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 14 nm |
| Die size | 484 mm2 | no data |
| Maximum core temperature | 94 °C | 81 °C |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | + | + |
| Unlocked multiplier | + | - |
Compatibility
Information on Core i9-7980XE and Xeon Gold 5120 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) | 4 (Multiprocessor) |
| Socket | FCLGA2066 | FCLGA3647 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 165 Watt | 105 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i9-7980XE and Xeon Gold 5120. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512 | Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512 |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | + |
| vPro | no data | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Speed Shift | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | + |
| TSX | + | + |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | + | - |
Security technologies
Core i9-7980XE and Xeon Gold 5120 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | + |
| EDB | + | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i9-7980XE and Xeon Gold 5120 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | + | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i9-7980XE and Xeon Gold 5120. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4-2666 | DDR4-2400 |
| Maximum memory size | 128 GB | 768 GB |
| Max memory channels | 4 | 6 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 85.33 GB/s | 115.212 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | N/A | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i9-7980XE and Xeon Gold 5120.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 44 | 48 |
Synthetic benchmark performance
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 | 18.55 | 11.34 |
| Recency | 1 September 2017 | 11 July 2017 |
| Physical cores | 18 | 14 |
| Threads | 36 | 28 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 165 Watt | 105 Watt |
i9-7980XE has a 63.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 month, and 28.6% more physical cores and 28.6% more threads.
Xeon Gold 5120, on the other hand, has 57.1% lower power consumption.
The Intel Core i9-7980XE is our recommended choice as it beats the Intel Xeon Gold 5120 in performance tests.
Note that Core i9-7980XE is a desktop processor while Xeon Gold 5120 is a server/workstation one.
Other comparisons
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