Xeon 656 vs Gold 6240
Contents
Primary details
Comparing processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 567 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 2.23 | no data |
| Market segment | Server | Server |
| Series | Intel Xeon Gold | no data |
| Power efficiency | 4.17 | no data |
| Designer | Intel | Intel |
| Manufacturer | no data | Intel |
| Architecture codename | Cascade Lake (2019−2020) | Granite Rapids (2024−2026) |
| Release date | 2 April 2019 (6 years ago) | 2 February 2026 (recently) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $2,445 | $1,399 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Performance to price scatter graph
Detailed specifications
Xeon Gold 6240 and Xeon 656 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) | 20 (Icosa-Core) |
| Performance-cores | no data | 20 |
| Threads | 36 | 40 |
| Base clock speed | 2.6 GHz | 2.9 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.9 GHz | 4.8 GHz |
| Bus type | DMI 3.0 | no data |
| Bus rate | 4 × 8 GT/s | 0 GT/s |
| Multiplier | 26 | no data |
| L1 cache | 1.125 MB | 112 KB (per core) |
| L2 cache | 18 MB | 2 MB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 24.75 MB | 72 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | Intel 3 nm |
| Die size | no data | 2x 598 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 85 °C | no data |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 74 °C |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | + | no data |
| Unlocked multiplier | - | + |
Compatibility
Information on Xeon Gold 6240 and Xeon 656 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 | 4 (Multiprocessor) | 1 |
| Socket | FCLGA3647 | FCLGA4710 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 150 Watt | 210 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Gold 6240 and Xeon 656. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512 | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® AMX, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512 |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | + |
| vPro | + | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Speed Shift | + | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | + |
| TSX | + | + |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | - | + |
| Deep Learning Boost | + | + |
Security technologies
Xeon Gold 6240 and Xeon 656 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | + |
| EDB | + | + |
| SGX | no data | - |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon Gold 6240 and Xeon 656 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | + | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon Gold 6240 and Xeon 656. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4-2933 | DDR5(6400MT/s) |
| Maximum memory size | 1 TB | 4 TB |
| Max memory channels | 6 | 8 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 140.8 GB/s | no data |
| ECC memory support | + | + |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | N/A |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon Gold 6240 and Xeon 656.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | 5.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | 48 | 128 |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 2 April 2019 | 2 February 2026 |
| Physical cores | 18 | 20 |
| Threads | 36 | 40 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 150 Watt | 210 Watt |
Xeon Gold 6240 has 40% lower power consumption.
Xeon 656, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 6 years, and 11.1% more physical cores and 11.1% more threads.
We couldn't decide between Intel Xeon Gold 6240 and Intel Xeon 656. We've got no test results to judge.
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