Xeon W3520 vs X5550
Aggregated performance score
X5550 outperforms W3520 by 3% based on our aggregated benchmark results.
General info
Comparing Xeon X5550 and Xeon W3520 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in performance ranking | 1824 | 1850 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Value for money | 30.53 | 3.11 |
| Market segment | Server | Server |
| Architecture codename | Gainestown (2009−2010) | Bloomfield (2008−2010) |
| Release date | March 2009 (15 years old) | March 2009 (15 years old) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $62 | $404 |
| Current price | $545 (8.8x MSRP) | $168 (0.4x MSRP) |
Value for money
Performance per price, higher is better.
Xeon X5550 has 882% better value for money than Xeon W3520.
Technical specs
Xeon X5550 and Xeon W3520 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) | 4 (Quad-Core) |
| Threads | 8 | 8 |
| Base clock speed | 2.66 GHz | 2.66 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.06 GHz | 2.93 GHz |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 64 KB (per core) |
| L2 cache | 256 KB (per core) | 256 KB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 8 MB (shared) | 8 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 45 nm | 45 nm |
| Die size | 263 mm2 | 263 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 75 °C | 68 °C |
| Number of transistors | 731 million | 731 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| Unlocked multiplier | No | No |
Compatibility
Information on Xeon X5550 and Xeon W3520 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 | 1 |
| Socket | FCLGA1366,PLGA1366 | FCLGA1366 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 95 Watt | 130 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon X5550 and Xeon W3520. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® SSE4.2 |
| AES-NI | no data | - |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | + |
| Idle States | + | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | no data | - |
| Demand Based Switching | + | + |
| PAE | 40 Bit | 36 Bit |
| Status | Discontinued | Discontinued |
Security technologies
Xeon X5550 and Xeon W3520 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 W3520 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | + | no data |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon X5550 and Xeon W3520. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR3 |
| Maximum memory size | 144 GB | 24 GB |
| Max memory channels | 3 | 3 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 32 GB/s | 25.6 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | + | + |
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.
X5550 outperforms W3520 by 3% based on our aggregated 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%
X5550 outperforms W3520 by 3% 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%
X5550 outperforms W3520 by 7% 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%
X5550 outperforms W3520 by 29% in GeekBench 5 Multi-Core.
Advantages and disadvantages
| Performance score | 1.98 | 1.92 |
| Cost | $62 | $404 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 95 Watt | 130 Watt |
We couldn't decide between Xeon X5550 and Xeon W3520. The differences in performance seem too small.
Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon X5550 and Xeon W3520, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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