Xeon Gold 5217 vs E5-2640

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Aggregate performance score

Xeon E5-2640
2012
6 cores / 12 threads, 95 Watt
3.96
Xeon Gold 5217
2019
8 cores / 16 threads, 115 Watt
9.71
+145%

Xeon Gold 5217 outperforms Xeon E5-2640 by a whopping 145% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Xeon E5-2640 and Xeon Gold 5217 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking1438792
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation3.947.54
Market segmentServerServer
Seriesno dataIntel Xeon Gold
Power efficiency3.947.99
Architecture codenameSandy Bridge-EP (2012)Cascade Lake (2019−2020)
Release date6 March 2012 (12 years ago)2 April 2019 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$162$1,522

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon Gold 5217 has 91% better value for money than Xeon E5-2640.

Detailed specifications

Xeon E5-2640 and Xeon Gold 5217 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 cores6 (Hexa-Core)8 (Octa-Core)
Threads1216
Base clock speed2.5 GHz3 GHz
Boost clock speed3 GHz3.7 GHz
Bus typeno dataDMI 3.0
Bus rate7.2 GT/s4 × 8 GT/s
Multiplierno data30
L1 cache64 KB (per core)512 KB
L2 cache256 KB (per core)8 MB
L3 cache15360 KB (shared)11 MB
Chip lithography32 nm14 nm
Die size435 mm2no data
Maximum core temperature73 °C79 °C
Number of transistors2,270 millionno data
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility-+

Compatibility

Information on Xeon E5-2640 and Xeon Gold 5217 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 configuration24 (Multiprocessor)
SocketFCLGA2011FCLGA3647
Power consumption (TDP)95 Watt115 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E5-2640 and Xeon Gold 5217. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® AVXIntel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512
AES-NI++
AVX++
vProno data+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Speed Shiftno data+
Turbo Boost Technology1.02.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
TSX-+
Idle States+no data
Thermal Monitoring+-
Flex Memory Access-no data
Demand Based Switching+no data
Turbo Boost Max 3.0no data-
Deep Learning Boost-+

Security technologies

Xeon E5-2640 and Xeon Gold 5217 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB++

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E5-2640 and Xeon Gold 5217 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E5-2640 and Xeon Gold 5217. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR4-2667
Maximum memory size384 GB1 TB
Max memory channels46
Maximum memory bandwidth42.6 GB/s128.001 GB/s
ECC memory support++

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E5-2640 and Xeon Gold 5217.

PCIe version3.03.0
PCI Express lanes4048

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.


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.

Xeon E5-2640 3.96
Xeon Gold 5217 9.71
+145%

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

Xeon E5-2640 6294
Xeon Gold 5217 15429
+145%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 3.96 9.71
Recency 6 March 2012 2 April 2019
Physical cores 6 8
Threads 12 16
Chip lithography 32 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 95 Watt 115 Watt

Xeon E5-2640 has 21.1% lower power consumption.

Xeon Gold 5217, on the other hand, has a 145.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 years, 33.3% more physical cores and 33.3% more threads, and a 128.6% more advanced lithography process.

The Xeon Gold 5217 is our recommended choice as it beats the Xeon E5-2640 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E5-2640 and Xeon Gold 5217, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.


Intel Xeon E5-2640
Xeon E5-2640
Intel Xeon Gold 5217
Xeon Gold 5217

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Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


4.1 1106 votes

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Xeon E5-2640 or Xeon Gold 5217, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.