Xeon Gold 6438N vs Platinum 8280

Primary details

Comparing Xeon Platinum 8280 and Xeon Gold 6438N processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	264	117
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	1.66	25.69
Market segment	Server	Server
Series	Intel Xeon Platinum	no data
Power efficiency	9.53	15.34
Architecture codename	Cascade Lake-SP (2018)	Sapphire Rapids (2023−2024)
Release date	11 December 2018 (5 years ago)	10 January 2023 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$10,009	$3,351

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon Gold 6438N has 1448% better value for money than Xeon Platinum 8280.

Detailed specifications

Xeon Platinum 8280 and Xeon Gold 6438N 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	28 (Octacosa-Core)	32 (Dotriaconta-Core)
Threads	56	64
Base clock speed	2.7 GHz	2 GHz
Boost clock speed	4 GHz	3.6 GHz
Multiplier	27	no data
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	80K (per core)
L2 cache	1 MB (per core)	2 MB (per core)
L3 cache	38.5 MB (shared)	60 MB
Chip lithography	14 nm	Intel 7 nm
Maximum core temperature	84 °C	no data
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	85 °C
Number of transistors	8,000 million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	+	no data

Compatibility

Information on Xeon Platinum 8280 and Xeon Gold 6438N 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	8 (Multiprocessor)	2
Socket	FCLGA3647	FCLGA4677
Power consumption (TDP)	205 Watt	205 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Platinum 8280 and Xeon Gold 6438N. 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 Platinum 8280 and Xeon Gold 6438N 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 Platinum 8280 and Xeon Gold 6438N are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon Platinum 8280 and Xeon Gold 6438N. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4-2933	DDR5-4800, DDR5-4400
Maximum memory size	1 TB	4 TB
Max memory channels	6	8
Maximum memory bandwidth	140.8 GB/s	no data
ECC memory support	+	+

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

N/A

no data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon Platinum 8280 and Xeon Gold 6438N.

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.

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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	20.64	33.23
Recency	11 December 2018	10 January 2023
Physical cores	28	32
Threads	56	64

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon Platinum 8280 and Xeon Gold 6438N, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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