Xeon Gold 6256 vs Silver 4216

Primary details

Comparing Xeon Silver 4216 and Xeon Gold 6256 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking	510	123
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	8.16	13.24
Market segment	Server	Server
Series	Intel Xeon Silver	no data
Architecture codename	Cascade Lake (2019−2020)	no data
Release date	2 April 2019 (5 years ago)	1 January 2020 (4 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$1,002	no data
Current price	$1626 (1.6x MSRP)	$3724

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon Gold 6256 has 62% better value for money than Xeon Silver 4216.

Detailed specifications

Xeon Silver 4216 and Xeon Gold 6256 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	16 (Hexadeca-Core)	12 (Dodeca-Core)
Threads	32	24
Base clock speed	2.1 GHz	3.6 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.2 GHz	4.5 GHz
L1 cache	1 MB	no data
L2 cache	16 MB	no data
L3 cache	22 MB	33 MB
Chip lithography	14 nm	14 nm
Maximum core temperature	79 °C	64 °C
64 bit support	+	-
Windows 11 compatibility	+	+
Unlocked multiplier	No	No

Compatibility

Information on Xeon Silver 4216 and Xeon Gold 6256 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)	no data
Socket	FCLGA3647	FCLGA3647
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	205 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Silver 4216 and 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	Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	+	no data
vPro	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	+
TSX	+	+
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	-	-
Status	Launched	Launched

Security technologies

Xeon Silver 4216 and Xeon Gold 6256 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon Silver 4216 and Xeon Gold 6256 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon Silver 4216 and Xeon Gold 6256. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4-2400	DDR4-2933
Maximum memory size	1 TB	1 TB
Max memory channels	6	6
Maximum memory bandwidth	115.212 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	+	+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon Silver 4216 and Xeon Gold 6256.

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.

Gold 6256 outperforms Silver 4216 by 127% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

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Pros & cons summary

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Performance score	13.33	30.24
Recency	2 April 2019	1 January 2020
Physical cores	16	12
Threads	32	24
Power consumption (TDP)	100 Watt	205 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon Silver 4216 and Xeon Gold 6256, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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