Xeon Gold 6542Y vs Opteron 6278
Primary details
Comparing Opteron 6278 and Xeon Gold 6542Y processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 871 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Market segment | Server | Server |
| Power efficiency | 7.12 | no data |
| Architecture codename | Interlagos (2011−2012) | Emerald Rapids (2023) |
| Release date | 1 May 2012 (12 years ago) | 14 December 2023 (less than a year ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | no data | $2,878 |
Detailed specifications
Opteron 6278 and Xeon Gold 6542Y 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 | 16 (Hexadeca-Core) | 24 (Tetracosa-Core) |
| Threads | 16 | 48 |
| Base clock speed | 2.4 GHz | 2.9 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.3 GHz | 4.1 GHz |
| L1 cache | 768 KB | 80 KB (per core) |
| L2 cache | 16 MB | 2 MB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 8 MB (per die) | 60 MB (shared) |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | Intel 7 nm |
| Die size | 316 mm2 | 2x 763 mm2 |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 83 °C |
| Number of transistors | 2,400 million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | no data |
Compatibility
Information on Opteron 6278 and Xeon Gold 6542Y 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 | 4 | 2 |
| Socket | G34 | FCLGA4677 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 115 Watt | 250 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Opteron 6278 and Xeon Gold 6542Y. 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 | + | + |
| FMA | + | - |
| 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
Opteron 6278 and Xeon Gold 6542Y 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 Opteron 6278 and Xeon Gold 6542Y are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | + | - |
| VT-d | no data | + |
| VT-x | no data | + |
| EPT | no data | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Opteron 6278 and Xeon Gold 6542Y. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR5-5200 |
| 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 | no data | N/A |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Opteron 6278 and Xeon Gold 6542Y.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | 5.0 |
| PCI Express lanes | no data | 80 |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 1 May 2012 | 14 December 2023 |
| Physical cores | 16 | 24 |
| Threads | 16 | 48 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 115 Watt | 250 Watt |
Opteron 6278 has 117.4% lower power consumption.
Xeon Gold 6542Y, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 11 years, and 50% more physical cores and 200% more threads.
We couldn't decide between Opteron 6278 and Xeon Gold 6542Y. We've got no test results to judge.
Should you still have questions on choice between Opteron 6278 and Xeon Gold 6542Y, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Similar processor comparisons
We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.
