Xeon Platinum 8256 vs Platinum 9221

Primary details

Comparing Xeon Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	not rated	730
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	1.89
Market segment	Server	Server
Series	Intel Xeon Platinum	Intel Xeon Platinum
Power efficiency	no data	9.53
Architecture codename	Cascade Lake-AP (2019)	Cascade Lake-SP (2018−2019)
Release date	2 April 2019 (5 years ago)	2 April 2019 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$7,007

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Detailed specifications

Xeon Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256 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)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	64	8
Base clock speed	2.3 GHz	3.8 GHz
Boost clock speed	3.7 GHz	3.9 GHz
Bus type	DMI 3.0	no data
Bus rate	4 × 8 GT/s	no data
Multiplier	21	38
L1 cache	2 MB	256 KB
L2 cache	32 MB	4 MB
L3 cache	71.5 MB (shared)	16.5 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	14 nm	14 nm
Maximum core temperature	no data	72 °C
Number of transistors	8,000 million	8,000 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	+	+

Compatibility

Information on Xeon Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256 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	8 (Multiprocessor)
Socket	Intel BGA5903	FCLGA3647
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	105 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® AVX-512	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 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256 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 Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256 are enumerated here.

VT-d	+	+
VT-x	+	+
EPT	no data	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4-2933	DDR4-2933
Maximum memory size	2 TiB	1 TB
Max memory channels	12	6
Maximum memory bandwidth	281.6 GB/s	140.8 GB/s
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 Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256.

PCIe version	3.0	3.0
PCI Express lanes	no data	48

Pros & cons summary

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Physical cores	32	4
Threads	64	8
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	105 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon Platinum 9221 and Xeon Platinum 8256, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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