Ryzen 9 3950X vs Xeon E5-2660

Primary details

Comparing Xeon E5-2660 and Ryzen 9 3950X processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	1198	205
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	6.78	18.00
Market segment	Server	Desktop processor
Series	no data	AMD Ryzen 9
Power efficiency	5.12	21.98
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge-EP (2012)	Matisse (Zen 2) (2019−2020)
Release date	6 March 2012 (12 years ago)	14 November 2019 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$85	$799

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Ryzen 9 3950X has 165% better value for money than Xeon E5-2660.

Detailed specifications

Xeon E5-2660 and Ryzen 9 3950X 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	8 (Octa-Core)	16 (Hexadeca-Core)
Threads	16	32
Base clock speed	2.2 GHz	3.5 GHz
Boost clock speed	3 GHz	4.7 GHz
Bus rate	8 GT/s	no data
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	96K (per core)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	512K (per core)
L3 cache	20480 KB (shared)	64 MB
Chip lithography	32 nm	7 nm, 12 nm
Die size	435 mm2	2 x 72 mm + 125 mm (IO-Die) mm2
Maximum core temperature	73 °C	no data
Number of transistors	2,270 million	19,200 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	+
Unlocked multiplier	-	+

Compatibility

Information on Xeon E5-2660 and Ryzen 9 3950X 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 (Uniprocessor)
Socket	FCLGA2011	AM4
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	105 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E5-2660 and Ryzen 9 3950X. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® AVX	86x MMX(+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A,-64, AMD-V, AES, AVX, AVX2, FMA3, SHA, Precision Boost 2
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	+	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Flex Memory Access	-	no data
Demand Based Switching	+	no data
Precision Boost 2	no data	+

Security technologies

Xeon E5-2660 and Ryzen 9 3950X 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 E5-2660 and Ryzen 9 3950X 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 E5-2660 and Ryzen 9 3950X. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR4 Dual-channel
Maximum memory size	384 GB	128 GB
Max memory channels	4	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	51.2 GB/s	51.196 GB/s
ECC memory support	+	+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E5-2660 and Ryzen 9 3950X.

PCIe version	3.0	no data
PCI Express lanes	40	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.

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Pros & cons summary

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Performance score	5.14	24.39
Recency	6 March 2012	14 November 2019
Physical cores	8	16
Threads	16	32
Chip lithography	32 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	95 Watt	105 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E5-2660 and Ryzen 9 3950X, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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