Xeon Platinum 8256 vs Platinum 9221
Primary details
Comparing Xeon Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | not rated | 742 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 1.68 |
| Market segment | Server | Server |
| Series | Intel Xeon Platinum | Intel Xeon Platinum |
| Power efficiency | no data | 9.53 |
| Architecture codename | Cascade Lake-AP (2019) | Cascade Lake-SP (2018) |
| Release date | 2 April 2019 (5 years ago) | 11 December 2018 (6 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $7,007 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Xeon Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256 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 | 32 (Dotriaconta-Core) | 4 (Quad-Core) |
| Threads | 64 | 8 |
| Base clock speed | 2.3 GHz | 3.8 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.7 GHz | 3.9 GHz |
| Bus type | DMI 3.0 | no data |
| Bus rate | 4 × 8 GT/s | no data |
| Multiplier | 21 | 38 |
| L1 cache | 64K (per core) | 64 KB (per core) |
| L2 cache | 1 MB (per core) | 1 MB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 71.5 MB (shared) | 16.5 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 14 nm |
| Maximum core temperature | no data | 72 °C |
| Number of transistors | 8,000 million | 8,000 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | + | + |
Compatibility
Information on Xeon Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256 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 | 8 (Multiprocessor) |
| Socket | Intel BGA5903 | FCLGA3647 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 250 Watt | 105 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | 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 | no data | - |
| Deep Learning Boost | - | + |
Security technologies
Xeon Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | + |
| EDB | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | + | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4-2933 | DDR4-2933 |
| Maximum memory size | 2 TiB | 1 TB |
| Max memory channels | 12 | 6 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 281.6 GB/s | 140.8 GB/s |
| 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 Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 48 |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 2 April 2019 | 11 December 2018 |
| Physical cores | 32 | 4 |
| Threads | 64 | 8 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 250 Watt | 105 Watt |
Xeon Platinum 9221 has an age advantage of 3 months, and 700% more physical cores and 700% more threads.
Xeon Platinum 8256, on the other hand, has 138.1% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between Xeon Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256. We've got no test results to judge.
Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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