Xeon Gold 5218 vs Gold 5120
Aggregate performance score
Gold 5218 outperforms Gold 5120 by a significant 24% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Xeon Gold 5120 and Xeon Gold 5218 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in performance ranking | 652 | 493 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 16.40 | 10.40 |
| Market segment | Server | Server |
| Series | Intel Xeon Gold | Intel Xeon Gold |
| Architecture codename | Skylake (server) (2017−2019) | Cascade Lake (2019−2020) |
| Release date | 11 July 2017 (7 years ago) | 2 April 2019 (5 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1,555 | $1,273 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Xeon Gold 5120 has 58% better value for money than Xeon Gold 5218.
Detailed specifications
Xeon Gold 5120 and Xeon Gold 5218 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) | 16 (Hexadeca-Core) |
| Threads | 28 | 32 |
| Boost clock speed | 2.2 GHz | 2.3 GHz |
| Bus support | no data | 4 × 8 GT/s |
| L1 cache | 896 KB | 1 MB |
| L2 cache | 14 MB | 16 MB |
| L3 cache | 19.25 MB | 22 MB |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 14 nm |
| Maximum core temperature | 81 °C | 87 °C |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | + | + |
| Unlocked multiplier | No | No |
Compatibility
Information on Xeon Gold 5120 and Xeon Gold 5218 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) | 4 (Multiprocessor) |
| Socket | Socket P | Socket P |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 105 Watt | 125 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Gold 5120 and Xeon Gold 5218. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | + |
| vPro | + | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| TSX | + | + |
Security technologies
Xeon Gold 5120 and Xeon Gold 5218 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon Gold 5120 and Xeon Gold 5218 are enumerated here.
| VT-d | no data | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon Gold 5120 and Xeon Gold 5218. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4-2400 | DDR4-2666 |
| Maximum memory size | 768 GB | 1 TiB |
| Max memory channels | 6 | 6 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 115.212 GB/s | 128.001 GB/s |
| ECC memory support | + | + |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon Gold 5120 and Xeon Gold 5218.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | no data |
| PCI Express lanes | 48 | 48 |
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.
Gold 5218 outperforms Gold 5120 by 24% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
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.
Benchmark coverage: 68%
Gold 5218 outperforms Gold 5120 by 24% in Passmark.
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 11.43 | 14.21 |
| Recency | 11 July 2017 | 2 April 2019 |
| Physical cores | 14 | 16 |
| Threads | 28 | 32 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 105 Watt | 125 Watt |
Xeon Gold 5120 has 19% lower power consumption.
Xeon Gold 5218, on the other hand, has a 24.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, and 14.3% more physical cores and 14.3% more threads.
The Xeon Gold 5218 is our recommended choice as it beats the Xeon Gold 5120 in performance tests.
Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon Gold 5120 and Xeon Gold 5218, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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