Intel Xeon E5640 vs X5550

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Combined performance score

Xeon X5550
1.96

E5640 outperforms X5550 by 23% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

Comparing Xeon X5550 and Xeon E5640 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in performance ranking18161650
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money30.530.85
Market segmentServerServer
Architecture codenameGainestown (2009−2010)Westmere-EP (2010−2011)
Release dateMarch 2009 (15 years old)16 March 2010 (14 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$62$49
Current price$545 (8.8x MSRP)$145 (3x MSRP)
Value for money

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon X5550 has 3492% better value for money than Xeon E5640.

Technical specs

Xeon X5550 and Xeon E5640 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 cores4 (Quad-Core)4 (Quad-Core)
Threads88
Base clock speed2.66 GHz2.66 GHz
Boost clock speed3.06 GHz2.93 GHz
L1 cache64 KB (per core)64 KB (per core)
L2 cache256 KB (per core)256 KB (per core)
L3 cache8 MB (shared)12 MB (shared)
Chip lithography45 nm32 nm
Die size263 mm2239 mm2
Maximum core temperature75 °C78 °C
Number of transistors731 million1,170 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--
Unlocked multiplierNoNo

Compatibility

Information on Xeon X5550 and Xeon E5640 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 configuration22
SocketFCLGA1366,PLGA1366FCLGA1366,LGA1366
Power consumption (TDP)95 Watt80 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon X5550 and Xeon E5640. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsno dataIntel® SSE4.2
AES-NIno data+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Turbo Boost Technology1.01.0
Hyper-Threading Technology++
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoringno data-
Demand Based Switching++
PAE40 Bit40 Bit
StatusDiscontinuedDiscontinued

Security technologies

Xeon X5550 and Xeon E5640 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB++

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon X5550 and Xeon E5640 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon X5550 and Xeon E5640. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3DDR3
Maximum memory size144 GB288 GB
Max memory channels33
Maximum memory bandwidth32 GB/s25.6 GB/s
ECC memory support++

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon X5550 and Xeon E5640.

PCIe versionno data2.0

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.


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.

Xeon X5550 1.96
Xeon E5640 2.41
+23%

E5640 outperforms X5550 by 23% in our combined benchmark results.


Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

Benchmark coverage: 68%

Xeon X5550 3009
Xeon E5640 3702
+23%

E5640 outperforms X5550 by 23% in Passmark.

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

Benchmark coverage: 42%

Xeon X5550 444
+33.3%
Xeon E5640 333

X5550 outperforms E5640 by 33% in GeekBench 5 Single-Core.

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

Benchmark coverage: 42%

Xeon X5550 1821
+44%
Xeon E5640 1265

X5550 outperforms E5640 by 44% in GeekBench 5 Multi-Core.

Gaming performance

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 1.96 2.41
Cost $62 $49
Chip lithography 45 nm 32 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 95 Watt 80 Watt

The Xeon E5640 is our recommended choice as it beats the Xeon X5550 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon X5550 and Xeon E5640, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

User ratings

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Intel Xeon X5550
Xeon X5550
Intel Xeon E5640
Xeon E5640

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Questions and comments

Here you can ask a question about Xeon X5550 or Xeon E5640, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.