Xeon E5540 vs W3520

Primary details

Comparing Xeon W3520 and Xeon E5540 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking	1991	2023
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	0.26	0.64
Market segment	Server	Server
Power efficiency	1.34	2.07
Architecture codename	Bloomfield (2008−2010)	Gainestown (2009−2010)
Release date	30 March 2009 (15 years ago)	30 March 2009 (15 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$404	$30

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Xeon E5540 has 146% better value for money than Xeon W3520.

Detailed specifications

Xeon W3520 and Xeon E5540 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	4 (Quad-Core)	4 (Quad-Core)
Threads	8	8
Base clock speed	2.66 GHz	2.53 GHz
Boost clock speed	2.93 GHz	2.8 GHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	256 KB (per core)
L3 cache	8 MB (shared)	8 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	45 nm	45 nm
Die size	263 mm2	263 mm2
Maximum core temperature	68 °C	76 °C
Number of transistors	731 million	731 million
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	-	-

Compatibility

Information on Xeon W3520 and Xeon E5540 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	1	2
Socket	FCLGA1366	FCLGA1366
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	80 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Xeon W3520 and Xeon E5540. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	Intel® SSE4.2	no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	+	+
Turbo Boost Technology	1.0	1.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	+	+
Idle States	+	+
Demand Based Switching	+	+
PAE	36 Bit	40 Bit

Security technologies

Xeon W3520 and Xeon E5540 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	+	+
EDB	+	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Xeon W3520 and Xeon E5540 are enumerated here.

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

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Xeon W3520 and Xeon E5540. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3
Maximum memory size	24 GB	144 GB
Max memory channels	3	3
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s	25.6 GB/s
ECC memory support	+	+

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics card

N/A

N/A

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Xeon W3520 and Xeon E5540.

PCIe version

2.0

2.0

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	1.84	1.75
Power consumption (TDP)	130 Watt	80 Watt

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Should you still have questions on choice between Xeon W3520 and Xeon E5540, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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