Xeon Gold 6438M vs W3550

Primary details

Comparing Xeon W3550 and Xeon Gold 6438M processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	1902	not rated
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.58	no data
Market segment	Server	Server
Power efficiency	1.48	no data
Architecture codename	Bloomfield (2008−2010)	Sapphire Rapids (2023−2024)
Release date	9 August 2009 (15 years ago)	10 January 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$235	$3,273

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Xeon W3550 and Xeon Gold 6438M 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)	32 (Dotriaconta-Core)
Threads	8	64
Base clock speed	3.06 GHz	2.2 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.33 GHz	3.9 GHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	80K (per core)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	2 MB (per core)
L3 cache	8 MB (shared)	60 MB
Chip lithography	45 nm	Intel 7 nm
Die size	263 mm2	no data
Maximum core temperature	68 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	85 °C
Number of transistors	731 million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	no data

Compatibility

Information on Xeon W3550 and Xeon Gold 6438M 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	1	2
Socket	FCLGA1366	FCLGA4677
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	205 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon W3550 and Xeon Gold 6438M. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2	Intel® AMX, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512
AES-NI	-	+
AVX	-	+
vPro	no data	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	no data	+
Turbo Boost Technology	1.0	2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	+
TSX	-	+
Idle States	+	no data
Demand Based Switching	+	no data
PAE	36 Bit	no data
Deep Learning Boost	-	+

Security technologies

Xeon W3550 and Xeon Gold 6438M technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+
SGX	no data	Yes with Intel® SPS
OS Guard	no data	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon W3550 and Xeon Gold 6438M are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon W3550 and Xeon Gold 6438M. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR5-4800, DDR5-4400
Maximum memory size	24 GB	4 TB
Max memory channels	3	8
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	+	+

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

N/A

no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon W3550 and Xeon Gold 6438M.

PCIe version	2.0	5
PCI Express lanes	no data	80

Pros & cons summary

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Recency	9 August 2009	10 January 2023
Physical cores	4	32
Threads	8	64
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	205 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon W3550 and Xeon Gold 6438M, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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