Xeon Gold 5420+ vs Gold 6242

Primary details

Comparing Xeon Gold 6242 and Xeon Gold 5420+ processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	400	95
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	9.67	59.38
Market segment	Server	Server
Series	Intel Xeon Gold	no data
Power efficiency	10.39	16.83
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)	$2,529	$1,848

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon Gold 5420+ has 514% better value for money than Xeon Gold 6242.

Detailed specifications

Xeon Gold 6242 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 cores	16 (Hexadeca-Core)	28 (Octacosa-Core)
Threads	32	56
Base clock speed	2.8 GHz	2 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.9 GHz	4.1 GHz
Bus type	DMI 3.0	no data
Bus rate	4 × 8 GT/s	no data
Multiplier	28	no data
L1 cache	1 MB	80K (per core)
L2 cache	16 MB	2 MB (per core)
L3 cache	22 MB	52.5 MB
Chip lithography	14 nm	10 nm
Maximum core temperature	85 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	84 °C
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	+	+

Compatibility

Information on Xeon Gold 6242 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 configuration	4 (Multiprocessor)	2
Socket	FCLGA3647	4677
Power consumption (TDP)	150 Watt	205 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Gold 6242 and Xeon Gold 5420+. 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	+	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	no data
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	no data
TSX	+	+
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	-	no data
Deep Learning Boost	+	-

Security technologies

Xeon Gold 6242 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 6242 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 6242 and Xeon Gold 5420+. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4-2933	DDR5-4400
Maximum memory size	1 TB	no data
Max memory channels	6	no data
Maximum memory bandwidth	140.8 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	+	-

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon Gold 6242 and Xeon Gold 5420+.

PCIe version	3.0	5.0
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.

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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.

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Pros & cons summary

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Performance score	16.55	36.65
Recency	2 April 2019	10 January 2023
Physical cores	16	28
Threads	32	56
Chip lithography	14 nm	10 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	150 Watt	205 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon Gold 6242 and Xeon Gold 5420+, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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