Xeon Platinum 8260 vs Platinum 8256

Primary details

Comparing Xeon Platinum 8256 and Xeon Platinum 8260 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	732	301
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	1.88	6.59
Market segment	Server	Server
Series	Intel Xeon Platinum	Intel Xeon Platinum
Power efficiency	9.53	10.96
Architecture codename	Cascade Lake-SP (2018−2019)	Cascade Lake-SP (2018−2019)
Release date	2 April 2019 (5 years ago)	2 April 2019 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$7,007	$4,702

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon Platinum 8260 has 251% better value for money than Xeon Platinum 8256.

Detailed specifications

Xeon Platinum 8256 and Xeon Platinum 8260 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)	24 (Tetracosa-Core)
Threads	8	48
Base clock speed	3.8 GHz	2.4 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.9 GHz	3.9 GHz
Multiplier	38	24
L1 cache	256 KB	1.5 MB
L2 cache	4 MB	24 MB
L3 cache	16.5 MB (shared)	35.75 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	14 nm	14 nm
Maximum core temperature	72 °C	90 °C
Number of transistors	8,000 million	8,000 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	+	+

Compatibility

Information on Xeon Platinum 8256 and Xeon Platinum 8260 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	8 (Multiprocessor)	8 (Multiprocessor)
Socket	FCLGA3647	FCLGA3647
Power consumption (TDP)	105 Watt	165 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Platinum 8256 and Xeon Platinum 8260. 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® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, 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 Platinum 8256 and Xeon Platinum 8260 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon Platinum 8256 and Xeon Platinum 8260 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon Platinum 8256 and Xeon Platinum 8260. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4-2933	DDR4-2933
Maximum memory size	1 TB	1 TB
Max memory channels	6	6
Maximum memory bandwidth	140.8 GB/s	140.8 GB/s
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 Platinum 8256 and Xeon Platinum 8260.

PCIe version	3.0	3.0
PCI Express lanes	48	48

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	10.77	19.47
Physical cores	4	24
Threads	8	48
Power consumption (TDP)	105 Watt	165 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon Platinum 8256 and Xeon Platinum 8260, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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