Xeon W3680 vs E3-1280 v2

General info

Comparing Xeon E3-1280 v2 and Xeon W3680 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking	1267	1212
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Value for money	2.75	4.07
Market segment	Server	Server
Architecture codename	Ivy Bridge (2012−2013)	Gulftown (2010−2011)
Release date	14 May 2012 (11 years old)	16 March 2010 (14 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)	$645	$350
Current price	$159 (0.2x MSRP)	$124 (0.4x MSRP)

Value for money

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon W3680 has 48% better value for money than Xeon E3-1280 v2.

Technical specs

Xeon E3-1280 v2 and Xeon W3680 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)	6 (Hexa-Core)
Threads	8	12
Base clock speed	3.6 GHz	3.33 GHz
Boost clock speed	4 GHz	3.6 GHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	256 KB (per core)
L3 cache	8 MB (shared)	12 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	22 nm	32 nm
Die size	160 mm2	239 mm2
Maximum core temperature	no data	68 °C
Number of transistors	1,400 million	1,170 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	No	Yes

Compatibility

Information on Xeon E3-1280 v2 and Xeon W3680 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	FCLGA1155	FCLGA1366
Power consumption (TDP)	69 Watt	130 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E3-1280 v2 and Xeon W3680. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX	Intel® SSE4.2
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	1.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	+
TSX	-	no data
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Flex Memory Access	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	+	+
PAE	no data	36 Bit
Fast Memory Access	+	no data
Status	Discontinued	Discontinued

Security technologies

Xeon E3-1280 v2 and Xeon W3680 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+
Identity Protection	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E3-1280 v2 and Xeon W3680 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E3-1280 v2 and Xeon W3680. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Maximum memory size	32.77 GB	24 GB
Max memory channels	2	3
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	32 GB/s
ECC memory support	+	+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E3-1280 v2 and Xeon W3680.

PCIe version

3.0

2.0

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.

W3680 outperforms E3-1280 v2 by 7% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

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Advantages and disadvantages

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Performance score	4.28	4.58
Recency	14 May 2012	16 March 2010
Physical cores	4	6
Threads	8	12
Cost	$645	$350
Chip lithography	22 nm	32 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	69 Watt	130 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E3-1280 v2 and Xeon W3680, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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