Xeon Gold 6421N vs Gold 5220
Aggregate performance score
Xeon Gold 6421N outperforms Xeon Gold 5220 by a whopping 143% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
Comparing Xeon Gold 5220 and Xeon Gold 6421N processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 451 | 88 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 14.33 | 44.13 |
| Market segment | Server | Server |
| Series | Intel Xeon Gold | no data |
| Power efficiency | 11.51 | 18.94 |
| Architecture codename | Cascade Lake (2019−2020) | Sapphire Rapids (2023−2024) |
| Release date | 2 April 2019 (5 years ago) | 10 January 2023 (1 year ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1,555 | $2,368 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Xeon Gold 6421N has 208% better value for money than Xeon Gold 5220.
Detailed specifications
Xeon Gold 5220 and Xeon Gold 6421N 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 | 18 (Octadeca-Core) | 32 (Dotriaconta-Core) |
| Threads | 36 | 64 |
| Base clock speed | 2.2 GHz | 1.8 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 3.9 GHz | 3.6 GHz |
| Bus type | DMI 3.0 | no data |
| Bus rate | 4 × 8 GT/s | no data |
| Multiplier | 22 | no data |
| L1 cache | 1.125 MB | 80K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 18 MB | 2 MB (per core) |
| L3 cache | 24.75 MB | 60 MB |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | Intel 7 nm |
| Maximum core temperature | 87 °C | no data |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 85 °C |
| 64 bit support | + | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | + | no data |
Compatibility
Information on Xeon Gold 5220 and Xeon Gold 6421N 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 | FCLGA4677 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 125 Watt | 185 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Gold 5220 and Xeon Gold 6421N. 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 | Intel® AMX, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512 |
| AES-NI | + | + |
| AVX | + | + |
| vPro | + | + |
| Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) | + | + |
| Speed Shift | + | + |
| Turbo Boost Technology | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Hyper-Threading Technology | + | + |
| TSX | + | + |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | - | no data |
| Deep Learning Boost | + | + |
Security technologies
Xeon Gold 5220 and Xeon Gold 6421N technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.
| TXT | + | + |
| EDB | + | + |
| SGX | no data | Yes with Intel® SPS |
| OS Guard | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon Gold 5220 and Xeon Gold 6421N are enumerated here.
| VT-d | + | + |
| VT-x | + | + |
| EPT | + | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon Gold 5220 and Xeon Gold 6421N. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR4-2667 | DDR5-4400 |
| Maximum memory size | 1 TB | 4 TB |
| Max memory channels | 6 | 8 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | 128.001 GB/s | no data |
| ECC memory support | + | + |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon Gold 5220 and Xeon Gold 6421N.
| PCIe version | 3.0 | 5 |
| PCI Express lanes | 48 | 80 |
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 | 15.78 | 38.42 |
| Recency | 2 April 2019 | 10 January 2023 |
| Physical cores | 18 | 32 |
| Threads | 36 | 64 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 125 Watt | 185 Watt |
Xeon Gold 5220 has 48% lower power consumption.
Xeon Gold 6421N, on the other hand, has a 143.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 3 years, and 77.8% more physical cores and 77.8% more threads.
The Xeon Gold 6421N is our recommended choice as it beats the Xeon Gold 5220 in performance tests.
Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon Gold 5220 and Xeon Gold 6421N, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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