FX-4120 vs Xeon E5-2420

Primary details

Comparing Xeon E5-2420 and FX-4120 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	1605	not rated
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.94	no data
Market segment	Server	Desktop processor
Power efficiency	3.15	no data
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge-EN (2012)	Zambezi (2011−2012)
Release date	14 May 2012 (12 years ago)	23 October 2012 (12 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$390	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Xeon E5-2420 and FX-4120 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	6 (Hexa-Core)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	12	4
Base clock speed	1.9 GHz	3.9 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.4 GHz	4.1 GHz
Bus rate	7.2 GT/s	no data
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	192 KB
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	4 MB
L3 cache	15360 KB (shared)	8 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	32 nm	32 nm
Die size	294 mm2	315 mm2
Number of transistors	1,270 million	1,200 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	-	+

Compatibility

Information on Xeon E5-2420 and FX-4120 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	2	1
Socket	FCLGA1356	AM3+
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	95 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E5-2420 and FX-4120. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® AVX	no data
AES-NI	+	+
FMA	-	+
AVX	+	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	1.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Flex Memory Access	-	no data
Demand Based Switching	+	no data

Security technologies

Xeon E5-2420 and FX-4120 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	no data
EDB	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E5-2420 and FX-4120 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E5-2420 and FX-4120. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Maximum memory size	384 GB	no data
Max memory channels	3	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	32 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	+	-

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E5-2420 and FX-4120.

PCIe version	3.0	2.0
PCI Express lanes	24	no data

Pros & cons summary

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Recency	14 May 2012	23 October 2012
Physical cores	6	4
Threads	12	4

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E5-2420 and FX-4120, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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