Xeon 5120 vs E3-1220 v3

Primary details

Comparing Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon 5120 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking	1495	not rated
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.23	no data
Market segment	Server	Server
Architecture codename	Haswell-WS (2013)	Woodcrest (2006)
Release date	2 June 2013 (11 years ago)	June 2006 (18 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$239	$45
Current price	$61 (0.3x MSRP)	$252 (5.6x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon 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	4 (Quad-Core)	2 (Dual-core)
Threads	4	2
Base clock speed	3.1 GHz	1.86 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.5 GHz	1.87 GHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	0 KB
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	4 MB
L3 cache	8192 KB (shared)	0 KB
Chip lithography	22 nm	65 nm
Die size	160 mm2	no data
Maximum core temperature	no data	65 °C
Number of transistors	1,400 million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	No	No
VID voltage range	no data	B2=1.0V-1.5V, G0=.85V-1.5V

Compatibility

Information on Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon 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	1
Socket	FCLGA1150	LGA771
Power consumption (TDP)	80 Watt	65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon 5120. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2	no data
AES-NI	+	no data
AVX	+	no data
vPro	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	-
TSX	+	no data
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
SIPP	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	no data	-
Fast Memory Access	+	no data
FSB parity	no data	+
Status	Discontinued	Discontinued

Security technologies

Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon 5120 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	-
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	+	no data
Identity Protection	+	no data
OS Guard	+	no data
Anti-Theft	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon 5120 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon 5120. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3, DDR4	DDR2
Maximum memory size	32 GB	no data
Max memory channels	2	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	+	no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon 5120.

PCIe version	3.0	no data
PCI Express lanes	16	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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Pros & cons summary

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Physical cores	4	2
Threads	4	2
Cost	$239	$45
Chip lithography	22 nm	65 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	80 Watt	65 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon 5120, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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