Ryzen 9 5900X vs Xeon Silver 4208

Primary details

Comparing Xeon Silver 4208 and Ryzen 9 5900X processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking	920	174
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	25.14	70.48
Market segment	Server	Desktop processor
Series	Intel Xeon Silver	AMD Ryzen 9
Architecture codename	Cascade Lake (2019−2020)	Vermeer (Zen3) (2020)
Release date	2 April 2019 (5 years ago)	5 November 2020 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$417	$549
Current price	$238 (0.6x MSRP)	$300 (0.5x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Ryzen 9 5900X has 180% better value for money than Xeon Silver 4208.

Detailed specifications

Xeon Silver 4208 and Ryzen 9 5900X 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	8 (Octa-Core)	12 (Dodeca-Core)
Threads	16	24
Base clock speed	2.1 GHz	3.7 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.2 GHz	4.8 GHz
L1 cache	512 KB	64K (per core)
L2 cache	8 MB	512K (per core)
L3 cache	11 MB	64 MB
Chip lithography	14 nm	7 nm
Die size	no data	2x 80.7 + 125 (I/O) mm2
Maximum core temperature	78 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	95 °C
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	+	+
Unlocked multiplier	No	Yes

Compatibility

Information on Xeon Silver 4208 and Ryzen 9 5900X 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 (Multiprocessor)	1
Socket	FCLGA3647	AM4
Power consumption (TDP)	85 Watt	105 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Silver 4208 and Ryzen 9 5900X. 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	86x MMX(+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A,-64, AMD-V, AES, AVX, AVX2, FMA3, SHA, Precision Boost 2
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	+	+
vPro	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	no data
Speed Shift	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
TSX	+	no data
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	-	no data
Status	Launched	no data

Security technologies

Xeon Silver 4208 and Ryzen 9 5900X technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	no data
EDB	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon Silver 4208 and Ryzen 9 5900X are enumerated here.

AMD-V	no data	+
VT-d	+	no data
VT-x	+	no data
EPT	+	no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon Silver 4208 and Ryzen 9 5900X. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4-2400	DDR4-3200
Maximum memory size	1 TB	128 GB
Max memory channels	6	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	115.212 GB/s	51.196 GB/s
ECC memory support	+	-

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon Silver 4208 and Ryzen 9 5900X.

PCIe version	3.0	4.0
PCI Express lanes	48	no data

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.

Ryzen 9 5900X outperforms Xeon Silver 4208 by 246% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

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Pros & cons summary

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Performance score	7.31	25.32
Recency	2 April 2019	5 November 2020
Physical cores	8	12
Threads	16	24
Cost	$417	$549
Chip lithography	14 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	85 Watt	105 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon Silver 4208 and Ryzen 9 5900X, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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