Core 2 Quad Q8400 vs Xeon E5-2680 v3

Place in the ranking	809	2281
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Market segment	Server	Desktop processor
Power efficiency	7.44	1.29
Architecture codename	Haswell-EP (2014−2015)	Yorkfield (2007−2009)
Release date	8 September 2014 (10 years ago)	19 April 2009 (15 years ago)

Detailed specifications

Xeon E5-2680 v3 and Core 2 Quad Q8400 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	12 (Dodeca-Core)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	24	4
Base clock speed	2.5 GHz	2.66 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.3 GHz	0.67 GHz
Bus rate	9.6 GT/s	1333 MHz
L1 cache	64K (per core)	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	256K (per core)	4 MB (shared)
L3 cache	30 MB (shared)	0 KB
Chip lithography	22 nm	45 nm
Die size	356 mm²	2x 82 mm²
Maximum core temperature	85 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	71 °C
Number of transistors	5,560 million	456 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-
VID voltage range	no data	0.85V-1.3625V

Compatibility

Information on Xeon E5-2680 v3 and Core 2 Quad Q8400 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	FCLGA2011	FCLGA775,LGA775
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	95 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E5-2680 v3 and Core 2 Quad Q8400. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® AVX2	no data
AES-NI	+	-
AVX	+	-
vPro	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	-
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	-
Idle States	+	+
Thermal Monitoring	+	+
Flex Memory Access	-	no data
Demand Based Switching	+	-
PAE	46 Bit	no data
FSB parity	no data	-

Security technologies

Xeon E5-2680 v3 and Core 2 Quad Q8400 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	-
EDB	+	+
Secure Key	+	no data
OS Guard	+	no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E5-2680 v3 and Core 2 Quad Q8400 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E5-2680 v3 and Core 2 Quad Q8400. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4-1600, DDR4-1866, DDR4-2133	DDR1, DDR2, DDR3
Maximum memory size	768 GB	no data
Max memory channels	4	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	68 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 E5-2680 v3 and Core 2 Quad Q8400.

PCIe version	3.0	2.0
PCI Express lanes	40	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.

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 E5-2680 v3 9.44
+626%

Core 2 Quad Q8400 1.30

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 E5-2680 v3 14998
+625%

Core 2 Quad Q8400 2068

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 E5-2680 v3 1002
+205%

Core 2 Quad Q8400 328

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 E5-2680 v3 6360
+609%

Core 2 Quad Q8400 897

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	9.44	1.30
Recency	8 September 2014	19 April 2009
Physical cores	12	4
Threads	24	4
Chip lithography	22 nm	45 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	95 Watt

Xeon E5-2680 v3 has a 626.2% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, 200% more physical cores and 500% more threads, and a 104.5% more advanced lithography process.

Core 2 Quad Q8400, on the other hand, has 26.3% lower power consumption.

The Xeon E5-2680 v3 is our recommended choice as it beats the Core 2 Quad Q8400 in performance tests.

Be aware that Xeon E5-2680 v3 is a server/workstation processor while Core 2 Quad Q8400 is a desktop one.

Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E5-2680 v3 and Core 2 Quad Q8400, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.