i7-950 vs Xeon E5-2680

VS

Aggregate performance score

Xeon E5-2680
2012
8 cores / 16 threads, 130 Watt
5.92
+192%
Core i7-950
2009
4 cores / 8 threads, 130 Watt
2.03

Xeon E5-2680 outperforms Core i7-950 by a whopping 192% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Xeon E5-2680 and Core i7-950 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking11101919
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.840.17
Market segmentServerDesktop processor
SeriesXeon (Desktop)Core i7 (Desktop)
Power efficiency4.311.48
Architecture codenameSandy Bridge-EP (2012)Bloomfield (2008−2010)
Release date6 March 2012 (12 years ago)2 June 2009 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$1,723$290

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon E5-2680 has 394% better value for money than i7-950.

Detailed specifications

Xeon E5-2680 and Core i7-950 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 cores8 (Octa-Core)4 (Quad-Core)
Threads168
Base clock speed2.7 GHz3.06 GHz
Boost clock speed3.5 GHz3.33 GHz
Bus rate8 GT/s1333 MHz
L1 cache64K (per core)64 KB (per core)
L2 cache256K (per core)256 KB (per core)
L3 cache20 MB (shared)8 MB (shared)
Chip lithography32 nm45 nm
Die size435 mm2263 mm2
Maximum core temperature85 °C68 °C
Number of transistors2,270 million731 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--

Compatibility

Information on Xeon E5-2680 and Core i7-950 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 configuration21
SocketFCLGA2011FCLGA1366
Power consumption (TDP)130 Watt130 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E5-2680 and Core i7-950. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® AVXIntel® SSE4.2
AES-NI+-
AVX+-
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Turbo Boost Technology2.01.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring+-
Flex Memory Access-no data
Demand Based Switching+-
PAEno data36 Bit

Security technologies

Xeon E5-2680 and Core i7-950 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB++

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E5-2680 and Core i7-950 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E5-2680 and Core i7-950. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR3
Maximum memory size384 GB24 GB
Max memory channels43
Maximum memory bandwidth51.2 GB/s25.6 GB/s
ECC memory support+-

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardno dataN/A

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E5-2680 and Core i7-950.

PCIe version3.02.0
PCI Express lanes40no 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.


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 E5-2680 5.92
+192%
i7-950 2.03

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 E5-2680 9399
+192%
i7-950 3222

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

Xeon E5-2680 539
+15.2%
i7-950 468

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

Xeon E5-2680 3389
+118%
i7-950 1558

Cinebench 10 32-bit single-core

Cinebench R10 is an ancient ray tracing benchmark for processors by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. Its single core version uses just one CPU thread to render a futuristic looking motorcycle.

Xeon E5-2680 4118
+12.8%
i7-950 3652

Cinebench 10 32-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 10 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R10 using all the processor threads. Possible number of threads is limited by 16 in this version.

Xeon E5-2680 26801
+84.1%
i7-950 14558

3DMark06 CPU

3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part contains two scenarios, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.

Xeon E5-2680 7924
+54.1%
i7-950 5143

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

Xeon E5-2680 4.87
+65.3%
i7-950 8.05

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

Xeon E5-2680 12
+129%
i7-950 5

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 5.92 2.03
Recency 6 March 2012 2 June 2009
Physical cores 8 4
Threads 16 8
Chip lithography 32 nm 45 nm

Xeon E5-2680 has a 191.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads, and a 40.6% more advanced lithography process.

The Xeon E5-2680 is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i7-950 in performance tests.

Be aware that Xeon E5-2680 is a server/workstation processor while Core i7-950 is a desktop one.


Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E5-2680 and Core i7-950, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Xeon E5-2680
Xeon E5-2680
Intel Core i7-950
Core i7-950

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Community ratings

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


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Questions & comments

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