Athlon 64 FX-55 vs Xeon E5-2420 v2
Primary details
Comparing Xeon E5-2420 v2 and Athlon 64 FX-55 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in performance ranking | 1381 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 3.23 | no data |
| Market segment | Server | Desktop processor |
| Architecture codename | Ivy Bridge-EN (2013−2014) | Clawhammer (2001−2005) |
| Release date | 1 September 2013 (11 years ago) | 10 October 2004 (19 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $480 | $180 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Xeon E5-2420 v2 and Athlon 64 FX-55 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) | 1 (Single-Core) |
| Threads | 12 | 1 |
| Base clock speed | 2.2 GHz | 2.6 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 2.7 GHz | 2.6 GHz |
| Bus rate | 7.2 GT/s | no data |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 128 KB |
| L2 cache | 256 KB (per core) | 1 MB |
| L3 cache | 15 MB (shared) | 0 KB |
| Chip lithography | 22 nm | 130 nm |
| Die size | 160 mm2 | 193 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 76 °C | no data |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 63 °C |
| Number of transistors | 1,400 million | 105 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| Unlocked multiplier | - | + |
Compatibility
Information on Xeon E5-2420 v2 and Athlon 64 FX-55 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 | 2 | 1 |
| Socket | FCLGA1356 | 939 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 80 Watt | 104 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E5-2420 v2 and Athlon 64 FX-55. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® AVX | no data |
| AES-NI | + | - |
| AVX | + | - |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | no data |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | no data |
| Idle States | + | no data |
| Thermal Monitoring | + | - |
| Flex Memory Access | - | no data |
| Demand Based Switching | + | no data |
| PAE | 46 Bit | no data |
| Status | Discontinued | no data |
Security technologies
Xeon E5-2420 v2 and Athlon 64 FX-55 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | no data |
| EDB | + | no data |
| Secure Key | + | no data |
| OS Guard | + | no data |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E5-2420 v2 and Athlon 64 FX-55 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 Xeon E5-2420 v2 and Athlon 64 FX-55. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR1 Depends on motherboard |
| Maximum memory size | 384 GB | no data |
| Max memory channels | 3 | no data |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 38.4 GB/s | no data |
| ECC memory support | + | - |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | no data | On certain motherboards (Chipset feature) |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E5-2420 v2 and Athlon 64 FX-55.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | no data |
| PCI Express lanes | 24 | no 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.
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
| Recency | 1 September 2013 | 10 October 2004 |
| Physical cores | 6 | 1 |
| Threads | 12 | 1 |
| Chip lithography | 22 nm | 130 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 80 Watt | 104 Watt |
Xeon E5-2420 v2 has an age advantage of 8 years, 500% more physical cores and 1100% more threads, a 490.9% more advanced lithography process, and 30% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between Xeon E5-2420 v2 and Athlon 64 FX-55. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that Xeon E5-2420 v2 is a server/workstation processor while Athlon 64 FX-55 is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E5-2420 v2 and Athlon 64 FX-55, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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