Xeon Gold 6421N vs Gold 6338N

Primary details

Comparing Xeon Gold 6338N and Xeon Gold 6421N processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	182	90
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	44.73
Market segment	Server	Server
Power efficiency	13.56	18.94
Architecture codename	Ice Lake-SP (2021)	Sapphire Rapids (2023−2024)
Release date	6 April 2021 (3 years ago)	10 January 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$2,368

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Xeon Gold 6338N 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	32 (Dotriaconta-Core)	32 (Dotriaconta-Core)
Threads	64	64
Base clock speed	2.2 GHz	1.8 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.5 GHz	3.6 GHz
L1 cache	64K (per core)	80K (per core)
L2 cache	1 MB (per core)	2 MB (per core)
L3 cache	48 MB (shared)	60 MB
Chip lithography	10 nm	Intel 7 nm
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	83 °C	85 °C
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	+	no data

Compatibility

Information on Xeon Gold 6338N 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	2	1
Socket	FCLGA4189	FCLGA4677
Power consumption (TDP)	185 Watt	185 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Gold 6338N 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	+	+
Deep Learning Boost	+	+

Security technologies

Xeon Gold 6338N and Xeon Gold 6421N technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+
SGX	Yes with Intel® SPS	Yes with Intel® SPS
OS Guard	no data	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon Gold 6338N 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 6338N and Xeon Gold 6421N. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4-2667	DDR5-4400
Maximum memory size	6 TB	4 TB
Max memory channels	8	8
ECC memory support	+	+

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon Gold 6338N and Xeon Gold 6421N.

PCIe version	4.0	5
PCI Express lanes	64	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	26.50	37.02
Recency	6 April 2021	10 January 2023

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon Gold 6338N and Xeon Gold 6421N, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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