Xeon E7-8870 vs i7-990X

Primary details

Comparing Core i7-990X and Xeon E7-8870 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	1307	not rated
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.20	no data
Market segment	Desktop processor	Server
Series	no data	Intel Xeon E7
Power efficiency	3.28	no data
Architecture codename	Gulftown (2010−2011)	Westmere-EX (2011)
Release date	24 February 2011 (13 years ago)	3 April 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$1,104	$4,616

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Core i7-990X and Xeon E7-8870 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	6 (Hexa-Core)	10 (Deca-Core)
Threads	12	20
Base clock speed	3.46 GHz	2.4 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.73 GHz	2.8 GHz
Bus type	no data	QPI
Bus rate	6.4 GT/s	6.4 GT/s
Multiplier	no data	18
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	64K (per core)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	256K (per core)
L3 cache	12 MB (shared)	30 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	32 nm	32 nm
Die size	239 mm2	513 mm2
Maximum core temperature	68 °C	69 °C
Number of transistors	1,170 million	2,600 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
Unlocked multiplier	+	-

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-990X and Xeon E7-8870 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	8 (Multiprocessor)
Socket	FCLGA1366,LGA1366	FCLGA1567,LGA1567
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	130 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-990X and Xeon E7-8870. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2
AES-NI	+	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	1.0	1.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	+
Idle States	+	no data
Thermal Monitoring	-	+
Demand Based Switching	-	no data
PAE	36 Bit	no data

Security technologies

Core i7-990X and Xeon E7-8870 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	-	+
EDB	+	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-990X and Xeon E7-8870 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-990X and Xeon E7-8870. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Maximum memory size	24 GB	4 TB
Max memory channels	3	4
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	34.113 GB/s
ECC memory support	-	+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-990X and Xeon E7-8870.

PCIe version

2.0

no data

Pros & cons summary

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Recency	24 February 2011	3 April 2011
Physical cores	6	10
Threads	12	20

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Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-990X and Xeon E7-8870, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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