Phenom II X4 955 BE vs Xeon E5540

Primary details

Comparing Xeon E5540 and Phenom II X4 955 BE processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking	1922	not rated
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	3.05	no data
Market segment	Server	Desktop processor
Architecture codename	Gainestown (2009−2010)	Deneb (2009−2011)
Release date	March 2009 (15 years ago)	April 2009 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$30	no data
Current price	$126 (4.2x MSRP)	$30

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Xeon E5540 and Phenom II X4 955 BE 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	2.53 GHz	no data
Boost clock speed	2.8 GHz	3.2 GHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	128 KB (per core)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	512 KB (per core)
L3 cache	8 MB (shared)	6 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	45 nm	45 nm
Die size	263 mm2	258 mm2
Maximum core temperature	76 °C	no data
Number of transistors	731 million	758 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	No	Yes

Compatibility

Information on Xeon E5540 and Phenom II X4 955 BE 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	FCLGA1366	AM3
Power consumption (TDP)	80 Watt	125 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E5540 and Phenom II X4 955 BE. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	1.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
Idle States	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	+	no data
PAE	40 Bit	no data
Status	Discontinued	no data

Security technologies

Xeon E5540 and Phenom II X4 955 BE 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 E5540 and Phenom II X4 955 BE are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E5540 and Phenom II X4 955 BE. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Maximum memory size	144 GB	no data
Max memory channels	3	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	+	no data

Pros & cons summary

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Threads	8	4
Power consumption (TDP)	80 Watt	125 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E5540 and Phenom II X4 955 BE, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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