Xeon Gold 5218 vs EPYC 7281
Aggregated performance score
Xeon Gold 5218 outperforms EPYC 7281 by 2% based on our aggregated benchmark results.
General info
Comparing EPYC 7281 and Xeon Gold 5218 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in performance ranking | 468 | 459 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Value for money | 3.60 | 10.27 |
| Market segment | Server | Server |
| Series | AMD EPYC | Intel Xeon Gold |
| Architecture codename | Naples (2017−2018) | Cascade Lake (2019−2020) |
| Release date | 29 June 2017 (6 years ago) | 2 April 2019 (5 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $650 | $1,273 |
| Current price | $1299 (2x MSRP) | $1412 (1.1x MSRP) |
Value for money
Performance per price, higher is better.
Xeon Gold 5218 has 185% better value for money than EPYC 7281.
Technical specs
EPYC 7281 and Xeon Gold 5218 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 | 16 (Hexadeca-Core) | 16 (Hexadeca-Core) |
| Threads | 32 | 32 |
| Base clock speed | 2.1 GHz | 2.3 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.7 GHz | 3.9 GHz |
| Bus support | no data | 4 × 8 GT/s |
| L1 cache | 96K (per core) | 1 MB |
| L2 cache | 512K (per core) | 16 MB |
| L3 cache | 32 MB (shared) | 22 MB |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 14 nm |
| Die size | 192 mm2 | no data |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 87 °C |
| Number of transistors | 4,800 million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | + |
| Unlocked multiplier | Yes | No |
Compatibility
Information on EPYC 7281 and Xeon Gold 5218 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 | 2 (Multiprocessor) | 4 (Multiprocessor) |
| Socket | TR4 | FCLGA3647 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 170 Watt | 125 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by EPYC 7281 and Xeon Gold 5218. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512 |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | + |
| vPro | no data | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | + |
| Speed Shift | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | no data | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | no data | + |
| TSX | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | no data | - |
| Status | no data | Launched |
Security technologies
EPYC 7281 and Xeon Gold 5218 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | + |
| EDB | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by EPYC 7281 and Xeon Gold 5218 are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | + | no data |
| VT-d | no data | + |
| VT-x | no data | + |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by EPYC 7281 and Xeon Gold 5218. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4 Eight-channel | DDR4-2667 |
| Maximum memory size | 2 TiB | 1 TB |
| Max memory channels | 8 | 6 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 170.671 GB/s | 128.001 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | + | + |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by EPYC 7281 and Xeon Gold 5218.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 128 | 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. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.
Xeon Gold 5218 outperforms EPYC 7281 by 2% based on our aggregated benchmark results.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 68%
Xeon Gold 5218 outperforms EPYC 7281 by 2% in Passmark.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Performance score | 13.98 | 14.22 |
| Recency | 29 June 2017 | 2 April 2019 |
| Cost | $650 | $1273 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 170 Watt | 125 Watt |
We couldn't decide between EPYC 7281 and Xeon Gold 5218. The differences in performance seem too small.
Should you still have questions on choice between EPYC 7281 and Xeon Gold 5218, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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