Xeon Gold 6538N vs 5120

Primary details

Comparing Xeon 5120 and Xeon Gold 6538N processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	not rated	164
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	21.90
Market segment	Server	Server
Power efficiency	no data	13.05
Architecture codename	Woodcrest (2006)	Emerald Rapids (2023)
Release date	June 2006 (18 years ago)	14 December 2023 (less than a year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$45	$3,351

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Xeon 5120 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	2 (Dual-core)	32 (Dotriaconta-Core)
Threads	2	64
Base clock speed	1.86 GHz	2.1 GHz
Boost clock speed	1.87 GHz	4.1 GHz
L1 cache	0 KB	80 KB (per core)
L2 cache	4 MB	2 MB (per core)
L3 cache	0 KB	60 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	65 nm	Intel 7 nm
Die size	no data	2x 763 mm2
Maximum core temperature	65 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	85 °C
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	no data
VID voltage range	B2=1.0V-1.5V, G0=.85V-1.5V	no data

Compatibility

Information on Xeon 5120 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	2
Socket	LGA771	FCLGA4677
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	205 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon 5120 and Xeon Gold 6538N. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	no data	Intel® AMX, 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
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	+
TSX	-	+
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
FSB parity	+	no data
Deep Learning Boost	-	+

Security technologies

Xeon 5120 and Xeon Gold 6538N technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	+
EDB	+	+
SGX	no data	Yes with Intel® SPS
OS Guard	no data	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon 5120 and Xeon Gold 6538N are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon 5120 and Xeon Gold 6538N. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR2	DDR5-5200
Maximum memory size	no data	4 TB
Max memory channels	no data	8
ECC memory support	-	+

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

no data

N/A

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon 5120 and Xeon Gold 6538N.

PCIe version	no data	5.0
PCI Express lanes	no data	80

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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Pros & cons summary

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Physical cores	2	32
Threads	2	64
Power consumption (TDP)	65 Watt	205 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon 5120 and Xeon Gold 6538N, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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