Ryzen 9 3900X vs Xeon E3-1280 v5

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Aggregate performance score

Xeon E3-1280 v5
2015
4 cores / 8 threads, 80 Watt
5.49
Ryzen 9 3900X
2019
12 cores / 24 threads, 105 Watt
21.32
+288%

Ryzen 9 3900X outperforms Xeon E3-1280 v5 by a whopping 288% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Xeon E3-1280 v5 and Ryzen 9 3900X processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking1167266
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation1.8321.81
Market segmentServerDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Xeon E3AMD Ryzen 9
Power efficiency6.2618.51
Architecture codenameSkylake-S (2015)Matisse (Zen 2) (2019−2020)
Release date19 October 2015 (9 years ago)7 July 2019 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$612$499

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Ryzen 9 3900X has 1092% better value for money than Xeon E3-1280 v5.

Detailed specifications

Xeon E3-1280 v5 and Ryzen 9 3900X 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 cores4 (Quad-Core)12 (Dodeca-Core)
Threads824
Base clock speed3.7 GHz3.8 GHz
Boost clock speed4 GHz4.6 GHz
Bus typeDMI 3.0no data
Bus rate4 × 8 GT/sno data
Multiplier37no data
L1 cache256 KB768 KB
L2 cache1 MB6 MB
L3 cache8 MB (shared)64 MB
Chip lithography14 nm7 nm, 12 nm
Die size122 mm2no data
Maximum core temperatureno data95 °C
Number of transistors1,400 million19,200 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility-+
Unlocked multiplier-+

Compatibility

Information on Xeon E3-1280 v5 and Ryzen 9 3900X 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 configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1 (Uniprocessor)
SocketFCLGA1151AM4
Power consumption (TDP)80 Watt105 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E3-1280 v5 and Ryzen 9 3900X. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2no data
AES-NI++
AVX++
vPro+no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)+no data
Turbo Boost Technology2.0no data
Hyper-Threading Technology+no data
TSX+-
Idle States+no data
Thermal Monitoring+-
Precision Boost 2no data+

Security technologies

Xeon E3-1280 v5 and Ryzen 9 3900X technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT+no data
EDB+no data
Secure Key+no data
MPX+-
SGXYes with both Intel® SPS and Intel® MEno data
OS Guard+no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E3-1280 v5 and Ryzen 9 3900X 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 Xeon E3-1280 v5 and Ryzen 9 3900X. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3, DDR4DDR4 Dual-channel
Maximum memory size64 GB128 GB
Max memory channels22
Maximum memory bandwidth34.134 GB/s51.196 GB/s
ECC memory support+-

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Clear Video--
Clear Video HD--
InTru 3D--

Graphics interfaces

Available interfaces and connections of Xeon E3-1280 v5 and Ryzen 9 3900X integrated GPUs.

Number of displays supportedno data-

Graphics image quality

Maximum display resolutions supported by Xeon E3-1280 v5 and Ryzen 9 3900X integrated GPUs, including resolutions over different interfaces.

4K resolution support--
Max resolution over HDMI 1.4N/A-
Max resolution over eDPN/A-
Max resolution over DisplayPortN/A-
Max resolution over VGAN/A-

Graphics API support

APIs supported by Xeon E3-1280 v5 and Ryzen 9 3900X integrated GPUs, sometimes API versions are included.

DirectXN/A-
OpenGLN/A-

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E3-1280 v5 and Ryzen 9 3900X.

PCIe version3.0no data
PCI Express lanes16no data

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.

Xeon E3-1280 v5 5.49
Ryzen 9 3900X 21.32
+288%

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.

Xeon E3-1280 v5 8407
Ryzen 9 3900X 32621
+288%

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.

Xeon E3-1280 v5 1297
Ryzen 9 3900X 1710
+31.8%

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.

Xeon E3-1280 v5 4430
Ryzen 9 3900X 9948
+125%

3DMark06 CPU

3DMark06 is a discontinued DirectX 9 benchmark suite from Futuremark. Its CPU part contains two scenarios, one dedicated to artificial intelligence pathfinding, another to game physics using PhysX package.

Xeon E3-1280 v5 8470
Ryzen 9 3900X 14889
+75.8%

wPrime 32

wPrime 32M is a math multi-thread processor test, which calculates square roots of first 32 million integer numbers. Its result is measured in seconds, so that the less is benchmark result, the faster the processor.

Xeon E3-1280 v5 9.5
Ryzen 9 3900X 2.69
+253%

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 11.5 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R11.5 which uses all the processor threads. A maximum of 64 threads is supported in this version.

Xeon E3-1280 v5 9
Ryzen 9 3900X 34
+280%

Cinebench 15 64-bit multi-core

Cinebench Release 15 Multi Core is a variant of Cinebench R15 which uses all the processor threads.

Xeon E3-1280 v5 815
Ryzen 9 3900X 3049
+274%

Cinebench 15 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R15 (standing for Release 15) is a benchmark made by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version (sometimes called Single-Thread) only uses a single processor thread to render a room full of reflective spheres and light sources.

Xeon E3-1280 v5 163
Ryzen 9 3900X 207
+27%

Cinebench 11.5 64-bit single-core

Cinebench R11.5 is an old benchmark by Maxon, authors of Cinema 4D. It was superseded by later versions of Cinebench, which use more modern variants of Cinema 4D engine. The Single Core version loads a single thread with ray tracing to render a glossy room full of crystal spheres and light sources.

Xeon E3-1280 v5 1.92
Ryzen 9 3900X 2.36
+22.9%

TrueCrypt AES

TrueCrypt is a discontinued piece of software that was widely used for on-the-fly-encryption of disk partitions, now superseded by VeraCrypt. It contains several embedded performance tests, one of them being TrueCrypt AES, which measures data encryption speed using AES algorithm. Result is encryption speed in gigabytes per second.

Xeon E3-1280 v5 4.5
Ryzen 9 3900X 10.8
+139%

x264 encoding pass 2

x264 Pass 2 is a slower variant of x264 video compression that produces a variable bit rate output file, which results in better quality since the higher bit rate is used when it is needed more. Benchmark result is still measured in frames per second.  

Xeon E3-1280 v5 51
Ryzen 9 3900X 147
+190%

x264 encoding pass 1

x264 version 4.0 is a video encoding benchmark uses MPEG 4 x264 compression method to compress a sample HD (720p) video. Pass 1 is a faster variant that produces a constant bit rate output file. Its result is measured in frames per second, which means how many frames of the source video file were encoded per second.  

Xeon E3-1280 v5 188
Ryzen 9 3900X 268
+42.7%

WinRAR 4.0

WinRAR 4.0 is an outdated version of a popular file archiver. It contains an internal speed test, using 'Best' setting of RAR compression on large chunks of randomly generated data. Its results are measured in kilobytes per second.

Xeon E3-1280 v5 5224
Ryzen 9 3900X 7534
+44.2%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 5.49 21.32
Recency 19 October 2015 7 July 2019
Physical cores 4 12
Threads 8 24
Chip lithography 14 nm 7 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 80 Watt 105 Watt

Xeon E3-1280 v5 has 31.3% lower power consumption.

Ryzen 9 3900X, on the other hand, has a 288.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, 200% more physical cores and 200% more threads, and a 100% more advanced lithography process.

The Ryzen 9 3900X is our recommended choice as it beats the Xeon E3-1280 v5 in performance tests.

Be aware that Xeon E3-1280 v5 is a server/workstation processor while Ryzen 9 3900X is a desktop one.


Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E3-1280 v5 and Ryzen 9 3900X, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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Intel Xeon E3-1280 v5
Xeon E3-1280 v5
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
Ryzen 9 3900X

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Community ratings

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