Xeon 638 vs Gold 6554S

Primary details

Comparing processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	145	191
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	6.69	23.23
Market segment	Server	Server
Power efficiency	5.48	7.50
Designer	Intel	Intel
Manufacturer	Intel	Intel
Architecture codename	Emerald Rapids (2023)	Granite Rapids (2024−2026)
Release date	14 December 2023 (2 years ago)	2 February 2026 (less than a year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$3,157	$899

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon 638 has 247% better value for money than Xeon Gold 6554S.

Performance to price scatter graph

Currently popular graphics cards are shown for comparison.

Detailed specifications

Basic parameters of Xeon Gold 6554S and Xeon 638: 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	36	16 (Hexadeca-Core)
Performance-cores	no data	16
Threads	72	32
Base clock speed	2.2 GHz	3.2 GHz
Boost clock speed	4 GHz	4.8 GHz
Bus rate	no data	0 GT/s
L1 cache	80 KB (per core)	112 KB (per core)
L2 cache	2 MB (per core)	2 MB (per core)
L3 cache	180 MB (shared)	72 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	Intel 7 nm	Intel 3 nm
Die size	2x 763 mm2	598 mm2
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	74 °C	76 °C
64 bit support	+	+
Unlocked multiplier	-	+

Compatibility

Information on Xeon Gold 6554S and Xeon 638 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	FCLGA4677	FCLGA4710
Power consumption (TDP)	270 Watt	180 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Gold 6554S and Xeon 638. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® AMX, 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	no data	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	+
TSX	+	+
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	no data	+
Deep Learning Boost	+	+

Security technologies

Xeon Gold 6554S and Xeon 638 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+
SGX	Yes with Intel® SPS	-
OS Guard	+	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon Gold 6554S and Xeon 638 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon Gold 6554S and Xeon 638. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR5 @ 5200 MT/s (1 DPC)	DDR5(6400MT/s)
Maximum memory size	4 TB	2 TB
Max memory channels	8	4
ECC memory support	+	+

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

N/A

N/A

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon Gold 6554S and Xeon 638.

PCIe version	5.0	5.0
PCI Express lanes	80	80

Synthetic benchmarks

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.

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Pros & cons summary

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Performance score	35.79	32.66
Recency	14 December 2023	2 February 2026
Physical cores	36	16
Threads	72	32
Power consumption (TDP)	270 Watt	180 Watt