Xeon Gold 5420+ vs Gold 5120

Aggregate performance score

Xeon Gold 5120
2017
14 cores / 28 threads, 105 Watt
11.40
Xeon Gold 5420+
2023
28 cores / 56 threads, 205 Watt
36.65
+221%

Xeon Gold 5420+ outperforms Xeon Gold 5120 by a whopping 221% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

Comparing Xeon Gold 5120 and Xeon Gold 5420+ processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking68495
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation5.0659.38
Market segmentServerServer
SeriesIntel Xeon Goldno data
Power efficiency10.2716.92
Architecture codenameSkylake (server) (2017−2018)Sapphire Rapids (2023−2024)
Release date11 July 2017 (7 years ago)10 January 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$1,555$1,848

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon Gold 5420+ has 1074% better value for money than Xeon Gold 5120.

Detailed specifications

Xeon Gold 5120 and Xeon Gold 5420+ 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 cores14 (Tetradeca-Core)28 (Octacosa-Core)
Threads2856
Base clock speed2.2 GHz2 GHz
Boost clock speed3.2 GHz4.1 GHz
Multiplier22no data
L1 cache896 KB80K (per core)
L2 cache14 MB2 MB (per core)
L3 cache19.25 MB52.5 MB
Chip lithography14 nm10 nm
Maximum core temperature81 °Cno data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)no data84 °C
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility++

Compatibility

Information on Xeon Gold 5120 and Xeon Gold 5420+ 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 configuration4 (Multiprocessor)2
SocketFCLGA36474677
Power consumption (TDP)105 Watt205 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Gold 5120 and Xeon Gold 5420+. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512no data
AES-NI++
AVX++
vPro++
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Speed Shift+no data
Turbo Boost Technology2.0no data
Hyper-Threading Technology+no data
TSX++
Turbo Boost Max 3.0-no data

Security technologies

Xeon Gold 5120 and Xeon Gold 5420+ technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT++
EDB+no data

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon Gold 5120 and Xeon Gold 5420+ 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 Xeon Gold 5420+. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR4-2400DDR5-4400
Maximum memory size768 GBno data
Max memory channels6no data
Maximum memory bandwidth115.212 GB/sno data
ECC memory support+-

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon Gold 5120 and Xeon Gold 5420+.

PCIe version3.05.0
PCI Express lanes4880

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 Gold 5120 11.40
Xeon Gold 5420+ 36.65
+221%

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 Gold 5120 18111
Xeon Gold 5420+ 58209
+221%

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 11.40 36.65
Recency 11 July 2017 10 January 2023
Physical cores 14 28
Threads 28 56
Chip lithography 14 nm 10 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 105 Watt 205 Watt

Xeon Gold 5120 has 95.2% lower power consumption.

Xeon Gold 5420+, on the other hand, has a 221.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads, and a 40% more advanced lithography process.

The Xeon Gold 5420+ 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 5420+, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite CPU.


Intel Xeon Gold 5120
Xeon Gold 5120
Intel Xeon Gold 5420+
Xeon Gold 5420+

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.

Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


2.7 6 votes

Rate Xeon Gold 5120 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

No user ratings yet.

Rate Xeon Gold 5420 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Xeon Gold 5120 or Xeon Gold 5420+, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.