Xeon Gold 6538N vs Pentium Silver N5000

Primary details

Comparing Pentium Silver N5000 and Xeon Gold 6538N processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	2087	158
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	21.67
Market segment	Laptop	Server
Series	Intel Pentium Silver	no data
Architecture codename	Goldmont Plus (2017)	Emerald Rapids (2023)
Release date	11 December 2017 (6 years ago)	14 December 2023 (less than a year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$161	$3,351

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Pentium Silver N5000 and Xeon Gold 6538N 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	4 (Quad-Core)	32 (Dotriaconta-Core)
Threads	4	64
Base clock speed	1.1 GHz	2.1 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.7 GHz	4.1 GHz
Multiplier	11	no data
L1 cache	56 KB (per core)	80 KB (per core)
L2 cache	4 MB (shared)	2 MB (per core)
L3 cache	4 MB	60 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	14 nm	Intel 7 nm
Die size	93 mm2	2x 763 mm2
Maximum core temperature	105 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	85 °C
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	+	no data

Compatibility

Information on Pentium Silver N5000 and Xeon Gold 6538N 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	FCBGA1090	FCLGA4677
Power consumption (TDP)	6 Watt	205 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Pentium Silver N5000 and Xeon Gold 6538N. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2	Intel® AMX, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	-	+
vPro	no data	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	-	+
Turbo Boost Technology	-	2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	+
TSX	-	+
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Smart Response	-	no data
GPIO	+	no data
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	-	no data
Status	Discontinued	Launched
Deep Learning Boost	-	+

Security technologies

Pentium Silver N5000 and Xeon Gold 6538N technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	no data	+
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	+	no data
MPX	+	-
Identity Protection	+	-
SGX	Yes with Intel® ME	Yes with Intel® SPS
OS Guard	+	+
Anti-Theft	-	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Pentium Silver N5000 and Xeon Gold 6538N are enumerated here.

VT-d	+	+
VT-x	+	+
EPT	+	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Pentium Silver N5000 and Xeon Gold 6538N. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4	DDR5-5200
Maximum memory size	8 GB	4 TB
Max memory channels	2	8
Maximum memory bandwidth	38.397 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	-	+

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	Intel UHD Graphics 605	N/A
Max video memory	8 GB	no data
Quick Sync Video	+	-
Graphics max frequency	750 MHz	no data
Execution Units	18	no data

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Pentium Silver N5000 and Xeon Gold 6538N integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported	3	no data
eDP	+	no data
DisplayPort	+	-
HDMI	+	-
MIPI-DSI	+	no data

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Pentium Silver N5000 and Xeon Gold 6538N integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support

+

no data

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Pentium Silver N5000 and Xeon Gold 6538N integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectX	12	no data
OpenGL	4.4	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Pentium Silver N5000 and Xeon Gold 6538N.

PCIe version	2.0	5.0
PCI Express lanes	6	80
USB revision	2.0/3.0	no data
Total number of SATA ports	2	no data
Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Ports	2	no data
Number of USB ports	8	no data
Integrated LAN	-	no data
UART	+	no data

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.

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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.

Pros & cons summary

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Performance score	1.58	29.11
Recency	11 December 2017	14 December 2023
Physical cores	4	32
Threads	4	64
Power consumption (TDP)	6 Watt	205 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Pentium Silver N5000 and Xeon Gold 6538N, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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