i5-660 vs Xeon E5649

Primary details

Comparing Xeon E5649 and Core i5-660 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	1508	2137
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	1.56	0.10
Market segment	Server	Desktop processor
Power efficiency	4.24	1.96
Architecture codename	Westmere-EP (2010−2011)	Clarkdale (2010−2011)
Release date	14 February 2011 (13 years ago)	7 January 2010 (14 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$45	$70

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon E5649 has 1460% better value for money than i5-660.

Detailed specifications

Xeon E5649 and Core i5-660 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	6 (Hexa-Core)	2 (Dual-core)
Threads	12	4
Base clock speed	2.53 GHz	3.33 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.93 GHz	3.6 GHz
Bus rate	no data	2.5 GT/s
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	256 KB (per core)
L3 cache	12288 KB (shared)	4 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	32 nm	32 nm
Die size	239 mm2	81 mm2
Maximum core temperature	76 °C	73 °C
Number of transistors	1,170 million	382 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Xeon E5649 and Core i5-660 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	FCLGA1156
Power consumption (TDP)	80 Watt	73 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E5649 and Core i5-660. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2	Intel® SSE4.2
AES-NI	+	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	1.0	1.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	+
Idle States	+	+
Demand Based Switching	+	-
PAE	40 Bit	36 Bit
FDI	no data	+

Security technologies

Xeon E5649 and Core i5-660 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E5649 and Core i5-660 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E5649 and Core i5-660. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Maximum memory size	288 GB	16.38 GB
Max memory channels	3	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	32 GB/s	21 GB/s
ECC memory support	+	-

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card	no data	Intel® HD Graphics for Previous Generation Intel® Processors
Clear Video HD	no data	+

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Xeon E5649 and Core i5-660 integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supported

no data

2

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E5649 and Core i5-660.

PCIe version	2.0	2.0
PCI Express lanes	no data	16

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	3.65	1.54
Recency	14 February 2011	7 January 2010
Physical cores	6	2
Threads	12	4
Power consumption (TDP)	80 Watt	73 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E5649 and Core i5-660, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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