Xeon E5520 vs E3-1220 v3

Primary details

Comparing Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon E5520 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking	1549	2056
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	4.21	2.58
Market segment	Server	Server
Architecture codename	Haswell-WS (2013−2014)	Gainestown (2009−2010)
Release date	2 June 2013 (11 years ago)	30 March 2009 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$239	$19

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon E3-1220 v3 has 63% better value for money than Xeon E5520.

Detailed specifications

Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon E5520 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)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	4	8
Base clock speed	3.1 GHz	2.26 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.5 GHz	2.53 GHz
Bus rate	5 GT/s	no data
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	256 KB (per core)
L3 cache	8192 KB (shared)	8 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	22 nm	45 nm
Die size	160 mm2	263 mm2
Maximum core temperature	no data	72 °C
Number of transistors	1,400 million	731 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon E5520 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	FCLGA1150	FCLGA1366
Power consumption (TDP)	80 Watt	80 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon E5520. 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	+	-
AVX	+	-
vPro	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	1.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	-	+
TSX	+	-
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
SIPP	+	-
Demand Based Switching	no data	+
PAE	no data	40 Bit
Fast Memory Access	+	no data
Status	Discontinued	Discontinued

Security technologies

Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon E5520 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

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

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon E5520 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon E5520. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3, DDR4	DDR3
Maximum memory size	32 GB	144 GB
Max memory channels	2	3
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	25.6 GB/s
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 E3-1220 v3 and Xeon E5520.

PCIe version	3.0	2.0
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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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	3.37	1.63
Recency	2 June 2013	30 March 2009
Threads	4	8
Chip lithography	22 nm	45 nm

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E3-1220 v3 and Xeon E5520, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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