Xeon Gold 6438N vs E5-2697 v4

Primary details

Comparing Xeon E5-2697 v4 and Xeon Gold 6438N processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	565	116
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	2.74	25.41
Market segment	Server	Server
Series	Intel Xeon E5	no data
Power efficiency	8.60	15.34
Architecture codename	Broadwell (2015−2019)	Sapphire Rapids (2023−2024)
Release date	20 June 2016 (8 years ago)	10 January 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$2,702	$3,351

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon Gold 6438N has 827% better value for money than Xeon E5-2697 v4.

Detailed specifications

Xeon E5-2697 v4 and Xeon Gold 6438N 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	18 (Octadeca-Core)	32 (Dotriaconta-Core)
Threads	36	64
Base clock speed	2.3 GHz	2 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.6 GHz	3.6 GHz
Bus type	QPI	no data
Bus rate	2 × 9.6 GT/s	no data
Multiplier	23	no data
L1 cache	no data	80K (per core)
L2 cache	4.5 MB	2 MB (per core)
L3 cache	45 MB	60 MB
Chip lithography	14 nm	Intel 7 nm
Die size	456.12 mm2	no data
Maximum core temperature	79 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	85 °C
Number of transistors	7200 Million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	no data

Compatibility

Information on Xeon E5-2697 v4 and Xeon Gold 6438N 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 (Multiprocessor)	2
Socket	FCLGA2011	FCLGA4677
Power consumption (TDP)	145 Watt	205 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E5-2697 v4 and Xeon Gold 6438N. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® AVX2	Intel® AMX, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	+	+
vPro	+	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	no data	+
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	+
TSX	+	+
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	+	-
Flex Memory Access	-	no data
Demand Based Switching	+	no data
PAE	46 Bit	no data
Deep Learning Boost	-	+

Security technologies

Xeon E5-2697 v4 and Xeon Gold 6438N technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	+	no data
SGX	no data	Yes with Intel® SPS
OS Guard	+	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E5-2697 v4 and Xeon Gold 6438N are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E5-2697 v4 and Xeon Gold 6438N. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4-1600, DDR4-1866, DDR4-2133, DDR4-2400	DDR5-4800, DDR5-4400
Maximum memory size	1.5 TB	4 TB
Max memory channels	4	8
Maximum memory bandwidth	76.8 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	+	+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E5-2697 v4 and Xeon Gold 6438N.

PCIe version	3.0	5
PCI Express lanes	40	80

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	13.67	34.49
Recency	20 June 2016	10 January 2023
Physical cores	18	32
Threads	36	64
Power consumption (TDP)	145 Watt	205 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E5-2697 v4 and Xeon Gold 6438N, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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