Core 2 Duo E8500 vs Xeon E5603
Aggregate performance score
Xeon E5603 outperforms Core 2 Duo E8500 by an impressive 53% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Xeon E5603 and Core 2 Duo E8500 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 2322 | 2595 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.13 | no data |
| Market segment | Server | Desktop processor |
| Power efficiency | 1.44 | 1.16 |
| Architecture codename | Westmere-EP (2010−2011) | Wolfdale (2008−2010) |
| Release date | 14 February 2011 (13 years ago) | January 2008 (16 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $286 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Xeon E5603 and Core 2 Duo E8500 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 | 4 (Quad-Core) | 2 (Dual-core) |
| Threads | 4 | 2 |
| Base clock speed | 1.6 GHz | 3.16 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1.6 GHz | 3.17 GHz |
| Bus rate | no data | 1333 MHz |
| L1 cache | 64 KB (per core) | 64 KB |
| L2 cache | 256 KB (per core) | 6 MB (shared) |
| L3 cache | 4 MB (shared) | 0 KB |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 45 nm |
| Die size | 239 mm2 | 107 mm2 |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 72 °C |
| Number of transistors | 1,170 million | 410 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | - |
| VID voltage range | no data | 0.85V-1.3625V |
Compatibility
Information on Xeon E5603 and Core 2 Duo E8500 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 | FCLGA1366,LGA1366 | LGA775 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 80 Watt | 65 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon E5603 and Core 2 Duo E8500. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.2 | no data |
| AES-NI | + | - |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | - | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | - | - |
| Idle States | + | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | - | + |
| Demand Based Switching | + | - |
| PAE | 40 Bit | no data |
| FSB parity | no data | - |
Security technologies
Xeon E5603 and Core 2 Duo E8500 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | + |
| EDB | + | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon E5603 and Core 2 Duo E8500 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | + | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon E5603 and Core 2 Duo E8500. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR3 | DDR1, DDR2, DDR3 |
| Maximum memory size | 288 GB | no data |
| Max memory channels | 3 | no data |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 25.6 GB/s | no data |
| ECC memory support | + | - |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon E5603 and Core 2 Duo E8500.
| PCIe version | 2.0 | 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.
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 | 1.22 | 0.80 |
| Physical cores | 4 | 2 |
| Threads | 4 | 2 |
| Chip lithography | 32 nm | 45 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 80 Watt | 65 Watt |
Xeon E5603 has a 52.5% higher aggregate performance score, 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads, and a 40.6% more advanced lithography process.
Core 2 Duo E8500, on the other hand, has 23.1% lower power consumption.
The Xeon E5603 is our recommended choice as it beats the Core 2 Duo E8500 in performance tests.
Be aware that Xeon E5603 is a server/workstation processor while Core 2 Duo E8500 is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon E5603 and Core 2 Duo E8500, 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.
