Core 2 Quad Q9400 vs Xeon Gold 5120
Aggregate performance score
Xeon Gold 5120 outperforms Core 2 Quad Q9400 by a whopping 751% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Xeon Gold 5120 and Core 2 Quad Q9400 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 683 | 2241 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 5.05 | no data |
| Market segment | Server | Desktop processor |
| Series | Intel Xeon Gold | no data |
| Power efficiency | 10.27 | 1.33 |
| Architecture codename | Skylake (server) (2017−2018) | Yorkfield (2007−2009) |
| Release date | 11 July 2017 (7 years ago) | August 2008 (16 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1,555 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Xeon Gold 5120 and Core 2 Quad Q9400 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 | 14 (Tetradeca-Core) | 4 (Quad-Core) |
| Threads | 28 | 4 |
| Base clock speed | 2.2 GHz | 2.66 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.2 GHz | 2.67 GHz |
| Bus rate | no data | 1333 MHz |
| Multiplier | 22 | no data |
| L1 cache | 896 KB | 64K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 14 MB | 6 MB (shared) |
| L3 cache | 19.25 MB | 0 KB |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 45 nm |
| Die size | no data | 2x 81 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 81 °C | no data |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 71 °C |
| Number of transistors | no data | 456 million |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | + | - |
| VID voltage range | no data | 0.85V-1.3625V |
Compatibility
Information on Xeon Gold 5120 and Core 2 Quad Q9400 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 | 4 (Multiprocessor) | 1 |
| Socket | FCLGA3647 | LGA775 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 105 Watt | 95 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Gold 5120 and Core 2 Quad Q9400. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512 | no data |
| AES-NI | + | - |
| AVX | + | - |
| vPro | + | no data |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Speed Shift | + | no data |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | - |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | - |
| TSX | + | - |
| Idle States | no data | + |
| Thermal Monitoring | - | + |
| Demand Based Switching | no data | - |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | - | no data |
| FSB parity | no data | - |
Security technologies
Xeon Gold 5120 and Core 2 Quad Q9400 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | + |
| EDB | + | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon Gold 5120 and Core 2 Quad Q9400 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | + | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | + | no data |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon Gold 5120 and Core 2 Quad Q9400. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4-2400 | DDR1, DDR2, DDR3 |
| Maximum memory size | 768 GB | no data |
| Max memory channels | 6 | no data |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 115.212 GB/s | no data |
| ECC memory support | + | - |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon Gold 5120 and Core 2 Quad Q9400.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | no data |
| PCI Express lanes | 48 | 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 | 11.40 | 1.34 |
| Physical cores | 14 | 4 |
| Threads | 28 | 4 |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 45 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 105 Watt | 95 Watt |
Xeon Gold 5120 has a 750.7% higher aggregate performance score, 250% more physical cores and 600% more threads, and a 221.4% more advanced lithography process.
Core 2 Quad Q9400, on the other hand, has 10.5% lower power consumption.
The Xeon Gold 5120 is our recommended choice as it beats the Core 2 Quad Q9400 in performance tests.
Be aware that Xeon Gold 5120 is a server/workstation processor while Core 2 Quad Q9400 is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon Gold 5120 and Core 2 Quad Q9400, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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