Xeon 656 vs Pentium B960

Primary details

Comparing processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	3097	not rated
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.04	no data
Market segment	Laptop	Server
Series	Intel Pentium	no data
Power efficiency	0.71	no data
Designer	Intel	Intel
Manufacturer	Intel	Intel
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge (2011−2013)	Granite Rapids (2024−2026)
Release date	2 October 2011 (14 years ago)	2 February 2026 (less than a year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$134	$1,399

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Performance to price scatter graph

Detailed specifications

Pentium B960 and Xeon 656 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)	20 (Icosa-Core)
Performance-cores	no data	20
Threads	2	40
Base clock speed	2.2 GHz	2.9 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.2 GHz	4.8 GHz
Bus type	DMI 2.0	no data
Bus rate	4 × 5 GT/s	0 GT/s
Multiplier	22	no data
L1 cache	64K (per core)	112 KB (per core)
L2 cache	256K (per core)	2 MB (per core)
L3 cache	2 MB (shared)	72 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	32 nm	Intel 3 nm
Die size	131 mm2	2x 598 mm2
Maximum core temperature	85 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	74 °C
Number of transistors	504 million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	no data
Unlocked multiplier	-	+

Compatibility

Information on Pentium B960 and Xeon 656 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)	1
Socket	FCPGA988,PGA988	FCLGA4710
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	210 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium B960 and Xeon 656. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® AMX, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512
AES-NI	-	+
FMA	+	-
AVX	-	+
vPro	no data	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	no data	+
My WiFi	-	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	-	2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	+
TSX	-	+
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	no data	+
FDI	+	no data
Fast Memory Access	+	no data
Deep Learning Boost	-	+

Security technologies

Pentium B960 and Xeon 656 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	+
EDB	+	+
SGX	no data	-
OS Guard	no data	+
Anti-Theft	-	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Pentium B960 and Xeon 656 are enumerated here.

VT-d	-	+
VT-x	-	+
EPT	no data	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium B960 and Xeon 656. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR5(6400MT/s)
Maximum memory size	16 GB	4 TB
Max memory channels	2	8
Maximum memory bandwidth	21.335 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	-	+

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Intel HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel Processors	N/A
Graphics max frequency	1.1 GHz	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Pentium B960 and Xeon 656 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	2	no data
eDP	+	no data
DisplayPort	+	-
HDMI	+	-
SDVO	+	no data
CRT	+	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium B960 and Xeon 656.

PCIe version	2.0	5.0
PCI Express lanes	16	128

Pros & cons summary

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Recency	2 October 2011	2 February 2026
Physical cores	2	20
Threads	2	40
Power consumption (TDP)	35 Watt	210 Watt