Intel Xeon Gold 6256: specs and benchmarks

Summary

Intel started Xeon Gold 6256 sales 1 January 2020. This is desktop processor primarily aimed at professional systems. It has 12 cores and 24 threads, and is based on 14 nm manufacturing technology, with a maximum frequency of 4500 MHz and a locked multiplier.

Compatibility-wise, this is FCLGA3647 processor with a TDP of 205 Watt. It supports DDR4-2933 memory.

General info

Xeon Gold 6256 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and pricing.

Place in performance ranking	81
Value for money	10.15
Market segment	Server
Release date	1 January 2020 (3 years old)
Current price	$3785	of 15854 (Xeon Platinum 8276L)

Technical specs

Basic microprocessor parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters can generally indicate CPU performance, but to be more precise you have to review its test results.

Physical cores	12 (Dodeca-Core)
Threads	24
Base clock speed	3.6 GHz	of 4.7 (Ryzen 9 7900X)
Boost clock speed	4.5 GHz	of 6 (Core i9-13900KS)
L3 cache	33 MB	of 768 (EPYC 7773X)
Chip lithography	14 nm	of 4 (Ryzen 9 7940HS)
Maximum core temperature	64 °C	of 110 (Atom x7-E3950)
64 bit support	-
Windows 11 compatibility	+
Unlocked multiplier	-

Compatibility

Information on Xeon Gold 6256 compatibility with other computer components and devices: 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.

Socket	FCLGA3647
Power consumption (TDP)	205 Watt	of 400 (Xeon Platinum 9282)

Technologies and extensions

Technological capabilities and additional instructions supported by Xeon Gold 6256. 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
AES-NI	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+
Speed Shift	+
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	+
TSX	+
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	-

Security technologies

Processor technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+
EDB	+

Virtualization technologies

Supported virtual machine optimization technologies. Some are specific to Intel only, some to AMD.

VT-d	+
VT-x	+
EPT	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel number of RAM supported by Xeon Gold 6256's memory controller. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequency may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4-2933	of 5600 (Ryzen 9 7940HS)
Maximum memory size	1 TB	of 786 (Xeon E5-2670 v3)
Max memory channels	6	of 12 (Xeon Platinum 9221)
ECC memory support	+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection types of supported peripherals.

PCIe version	3.0	of 5 (EPYC 9654)
PCI Express lanes	48	of 128 (EPYC 7401)

Benchmark performance

Single-core and multi-core benchmark results of Xeon Gold 6256. Overall benchmark performance 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.

Relative perfomance

Overall Xeon Gold 6256 performance compared to nearest competitors among server CPUs.

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