Xeon Gold 6438N vs Apple M2
Aggregate performance score
Xeon Gold 6438N outperforms Apple M2 by a whopping 254% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Apple M2 and Xeon Gold 6438N processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 806 | 117 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 25.75 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Server |
| Series | Apple Apple M-Series | no data |
| Power efficiency | 44.48 | 15.34 |
| Architecture codename | no data | Sapphire Rapids (2023−2024) |
| Release date | 10 June 2022 (2 years ago) | 10 January 2023 (1 year ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $3,351 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Apple M2 and Xeon Gold 6438N 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) | 32 (Dotriaconta-Core) |
| Threads | 8 | 64 |
| Base clock speed | 2.424 GHz | 2 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.48 GHz | 3.6 GHz |
| L1 cache | 2 MB | 80K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 20 MB | 2 MB (per core) |
| L3 cache | no data | 60 MB |
| Chip lithography | 5 nm | Intel 7 nm |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 85 °C |
| Number of transistors | 20000 Million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
Compatibility
Information on Apple M2 and Xeon Gold 6438N 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 | no data | 2 |
| Socket | no data | FCLGA4677 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 20 Watt | 205 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Apple M2 and Xeon Gold 6438N. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | Intel® AMX, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512 |
| AES-NI | - | + |
| AVX | - | + |
| vPro | no data | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | no data | + |
| Speed Shift | no data | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | no data | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | no data | + |
| TSX | - | + |
| Deep Learning Boost | - | + |
Security technologies
Apple M2 and Xeon Gold 6438N technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | no data | + |
| EDB | no data | + |
| SGX | no data | Yes with Intel® SPS |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Apple M2 and Xeon Gold 6438N are enumerated here.
| VT-d | no data | + |
| VT-x | no data | + |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Apple M2 and Xeon Gold 6438N. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | no data | DDR5-4800, DDR5-4400 |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 4 TB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 8 |
| ECC memory support | - | + |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | Apple M2 10-Core GPU ( - 1398 MHz) | no data |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Apple M2 and Xeon Gold 6438N.
| PCIe version | no data | 5 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 80 |
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.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 9.40 | 33.23 |
| Recency | 10 June 2022 | 10 January 2023 |
| Physical cores | 8 | 32 |
| Threads | 8 | 64 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 20 Watt | 205 Watt |
Apple M2 has 925% lower power consumption.
Xeon Gold 6438N, on the other hand, has a 253.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 months, and 300% more physical cores and 700% more threads.
The Xeon Gold 6438N is our recommended choice as it beats the Apple M2 in performance tests.
Be aware that Apple M2 is a notebook processor while Xeon Gold 6438N is a server/workstation one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Apple M2 and Xeon Gold 6438N, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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