Celeron G540 vs Xeon E5420
Aggregate performance score
Xeon E5420 outperforms Celeron G540 by an impressive 75% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Contents
Primary details
Comparing processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2437 | 2836 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.18 | 0.04 |
| Market segment | Server | Desktop processor |
| Power efficiency | 1.51 | 1.06 |
| Designer | Intel | Intel |
| Manufacturer | Intel | Intel |
| Architecture codename | Harpertown (2007−2008) | Sandy Bridge (2011−2013) |
| Release date | 11 November 2007 (17 years ago) | 4 September 2011 (13 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $316 | $158 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Xeon E5420 has 350% better value for money than Celeron G540.
Performance to price scatter graph
Detailed specifications
Xeon E5420 and Celeron G540 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 | 4 (Quad-Core) | 2 (Dual-core) |
| Threads | 4 | 2 |
| Base clock speed | 2.5 GHz | 2.5 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.5 GHz | 2.5 GHz |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 64 KB (per core) |
| L2 cache | 6 MB (per die) | 256 KB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 12 MB L2 Cache | 2 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 32 nm |
| Die size | 2x 107 mm2 | 131 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 69 °C |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | 63 °C | no data |
| Number of transistors | 820 million | 504 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| VID voltage range | 0.85V-1.35V | no data |
Compatibility
Information on Xeon E5420 and Celeron G540 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 | LGA771 | FCLGA1155 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 80 Watt | 65 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E5420 and Celeron G540. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2 |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | - | - |
| Idle States | + | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | + |
| Flex Memory Access | no data | + |
| Demand Based Switching | + | no data |
| FDI | no data | + |
| Fast Memory Access | no data | + |
| FSB parity | + | no data |
Security technologies
Xeon E5420 and Celeron G540 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | - |
| EDB | + | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E5420 and Celeron G540 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | no data | - |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | - | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E5420 and Celeron G540. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR2, DDR3 Depends on motherboard | DDR3 |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 32 GB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | no data | 17 GB/s |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | N/A | Intel HD Graphics for 2nd Generation Intel Processors |
| Graphics max frequency | no data | 1 GHz |
Graphics interfaces
Available interfaces and connections of Xeon E5420 and Celeron G540 integrated GPUs.
| Number of displays supported | no data | 2 |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E5420 and Celeron G540.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | 2.0 |
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.
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. Other than that, Passmark measures multi-core performance.
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.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 1.26 | 0.72 |
| Recency | 11 November 2007 | 4 September 2011 |
| Physical cores | 4 | 2 |
| Threads | 4 | 2 |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 32 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 80 Watt | 65 Watt |
Xeon E5420 has a 75% higher aggregate performance score, and 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads.
Celeron G540, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 3 years, a 40.6% more advanced lithography process, and 23.1% lower power consumption.
The Intel Xeon E5420 is our recommended choice as it beats the Intel Celeron G540 in performance tests.
Be aware that Xeon E5420 is a server/workstation processor while Celeron G540 is a desktop one.
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