Xeon E-2478 vs Gold 6438N

Primary details

Comparing Xeon Gold 6438N and Xeon E-2478 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	117	314
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	25.75	82.64
Market segment	Server	Server
Power efficiency	15.34	22.22
Architecture codename	Sapphire Rapids (2023−2024)	Raptor Lake-S (2023−2024)
Release date	10 January 2023 (1 year ago)	14 December 2023 (less than a year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$3,351	$568

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon E-2478 has 221% better value for money than Xeon Gold 6438N.

Detailed specifications

Xeon Gold 6438N and Xeon E-2478 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)	8 (Octa-Core)
Threads	64	16
Base clock speed	2 GHz	2.8 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.6 GHz	5.2 GHz
Bus rate	no data	16 GT/s
L1 cache	80K (per core)	80 KB (per core)
L2 cache	2 MB (per core)	2 MB (per core)
L3 cache	60 MB	24 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	Intel 7 nm	Intel 7 nm
Die size	no data	257 mm2
Maximum core temperature	no data	100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	85 °C	no data
64 bit support	+	+

Compatibility

Information on Xeon Gold 6438N and Xeon E-2478 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	FCLGA4677	FCLGA1700
Power consumption (TDP)	205 Watt	80 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Gold 6438N and Xeon E-2478. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® AMX, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX, Intel® AVX2, Intel® AVX-512	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	+	+
vPro	+	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Speed Shift	+	no data
Turbo Boost Technology	2.0	2
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	+
TSX	+	-
Idle States	no data	+
Thermal Monitoring	-	+
Turbo Boost Max 3.0	no data	+
Deep Learning Boost	+	-

Security technologies

Xeon Gold 6438N and Xeon E-2478 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

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

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon Gold 6438N and Xeon E-2478 are enumerated here.

VT-d	+	+
VT-x	+	+
EPT	+	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon Gold 6438N and Xeon E-2478. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR5-4800, DDR5-4400	DDR5-4800
Maximum memory size	4 TB	128 GB
Max memory channels	8	2
ECC memory support	+	+

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

no data

N/A

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon Gold 6438N and Xeon E-2478.

PCIe version	5	5
PCI Express lanes	80	16

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	33.23	18.78
Recency	10 January 2023	14 December 2023
Physical cores	32	8
Threads	64	16
Power consumption (TDP)	205 Watt	80 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon Gold 6438N and Xeon E-2478, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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