Xeon Gold 6438N vs Ryzen 9 3950X
Aggregate performance score
Xeon Gold 6438N outperforms Ryzen 9 3950X by a substantial 36% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Ryzen 9 3950X and Xeon Gold 6438N processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 205 | 117 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 18.01 | 25.75 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Server |
| Series | AMD Ryzen 9 | no data |
| Power efficiency | 21.98 | 15.34 |
| Architecture codename | Matisse (Zen 2) (2019−2020) | Sapphire Rapids (2023−2024) |
| Release date | 14 November 2019 (5 years ago) | 10 January 2023 (1 year ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $799 | $3,351 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Xeon Gold 6438N has 43% better value for money than Ryzen 9 3950X.
Detailed specifications
Ryzen 9 3950X 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 | 16 (Hexadeca-Core) | 32 (Dotriaconta-Core) |
| Threads | 32 | 64 |
| Base clock speed | 3.5 GHz | 2 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 4.7 GHz | 3.6 GHz |
| L1 cache | 96K (per core) | 80K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 512K (per core) | 2 MB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 64 MB | 60 MB |
| Chip lithography | 7 nm, 12 nm | Intel 7 nm |
| Die size | 2 x 72 mm + 125 mm (IO-Die) mm2 | no data |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 85 °C |
| Number of transistors | 19,200 million | no data |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | + | no data |
| Unlocked multiplier | + | - |
Compatibility
Information on Ryzen 9 3950X 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 | 1 (Uniprocessor) | 2 |
| Socket | AM4 | FCLGA4677 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 105 Watt | 205 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Ryzen 9 3950X and Xeon Gold 6438N. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | 86x MMX(+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A,-64, AMD-V, AES, AVX, AVX2, FMA3, SHA, Precision Boost 2 | 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 | - | + |
| Precision Boost 2 | + | no data |
| Deep Learning Boost | - | + |
Security technologies
Ryzen 9 3950X 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 Ryzen 9 3950X and Xeon Gold 6438N 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 Ryzen 9 3950X and Xeon Gold 6438N. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4 Dual-channel | DDR5-4800, DDR5-4400 |
| Maximum memory size | 128 GB | 4 TB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 8 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 51.196 GB/s | no data |
| ECC memory support | + | + |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Ryzen 9 3950X 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 | 24.39 | 33.23 |
| Recency | 14 November 2019 | 10 January 2023 |
| Physical cores | 16 | 32 |
| Threads | 32 | 64 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 105 Watt | 205 Watt |
Ryzen 9 3950X has 95.2% lower power consumption.
Xeon Gold 6438N, on the other hand, has a 36.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, and 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads.
The Xeon Gold 6438N is our recommended choice as it beats the Ryzen 9 3950X in performance tests.
Note that Ryzen 9 3950X is a desktop processor while Xeon Gold 6438N is a server/workstation one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Ryzen 9 3950X and Xeon Gold 6438N, 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.
