Atom C3538 vs Xeon E5520
Aggregate performance score
Xeon E5520 outperforms Atom C3538 by a substantial 34% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Xeon E5520 and Atom C3538 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2096 | 2347 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 2.58 | 0.04 |
| Market segment | Server | Server |
| Series | no data | Intel Atom |
| Power efficiency | 1.88 | 7.51 |
| Architecture codename | Gainestown (2009−2010) | Goldmont (2016−2017) |
| Release date | 30 March 2009 (15 years ago) | 15 August 2017 (7 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $19 | $75 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Xeon E5520 has 6350% better value for money than Atom C3538.
Detailed specifications
Xeon E5520 and Atom C3538 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) | 4 (Quad-Core) |
| Threads | 8 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | 2.26 GHz | 2.1 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.53 GHz | 2.1 GHz |
| Multiplier | no data | 21 |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 224 KB |
| L2 cache | 256 KB (per core) | 8 MB |
| L3 cache | 8 MB (shared) | 8 MB |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 14 nm |
| Die size | 263 mm2 | no data |
| Maximum core temperature | 72 °C | 87 °C |
| Number of transistors | 731 million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
Compatibility
Information on Xeon E5520 and Atom C3538 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 | FCLGA1366 | FCBGA1310 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 80 Watt | 15 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E5520 and Atom C3538. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| AES-NI | - | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| QuickAssist | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 1.0 | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | - |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Demand Based Switching | + | no data |
| PAE | 40 Bit | no data |
Security technologies
Xeon E5520 and Atom C3538 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | no data |
| EDB | + | + |
| Secure Boot | no data | + |
| Secure Key | no data | + |
| SGX | no data | - |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E5520 and Atom C3538 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | + | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E5520 and Atom C3538. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR4: 2133 |
| Maximum memory size | 144 GB | 256 GB |
| Max memory channels | 3 | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 25.6 GB/s | 29.871 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | + | + |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | N/A | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E5520 and Atom C3538.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | 3 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 12 |
| USB revision | no data | 3 |
| Total number of SATA ports | no data | 12 |
| Max number of SATA 6 Gb/s Ports | no data | 12 |
| Number of USB ports | no data | 8 |
| Integrated LAN | no data | 2x10/2.5/1 GBE + 2x2.5/1 GBE |
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.
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.
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 | 1.59 | 1.19 |
| Recency | 30 March 2009 | 15 August 2017 |
| Threads | 8 | 4 |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 14 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 80 Watt | 15 Watt |
Xeon E5520 has a 33.6% higher aggregate performance score, and 100% more threads.
Atom C3538, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 8 years, a 221.4% more advanced lithography process, and 433.3% lower power consumption.
The Xeon E5520 is our recommended choice as it beats the Atom C3538 in performance tests.
Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E5520 and Atom C3538, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Similar processor comparisons
We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.
