AMD Opteron 4238 vs Intel Xeon W5590

Comparative analysis of AMD Opteron 4238 and Intel Xeon W5590 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Security & Reliability, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark, Geekbench 4 - Single Core, Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core, CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s).

AMD Opteron 4238

Intel Xeon W5590

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Opteron 4238

2 more cores, run more applications at once: 6 vs 4
Around 3% higher clock speed: 3.7 GHz vs 3.60 GHz
Around 5% higher maximum core temperature: 70.50°C vs 67°C
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 32 nm vs 45 nm
Around 13% more L1 cache; more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
6x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
Around 37% lower typical power consumption: 95 Watt vs 130 Watt
Around 9% better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 7236 vs 6640

Specifications (specs)
Number of cores	6 vs 4
Maximum frequency	3.7 GHz vs 3.60 GHz
Maximum core temperature	70.50°C vs 67°C
Manufacturing process technology	32 nm vs 45 nm
L1 cache	288 KB vs 64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	6 MB vs 256 KB (per core)
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	95 Watt vs 130 Watt
Benchmarks
PassMark - CPU mark	7236 vs 6640

Reasons to consider the Intel Xeon W5590

2 more threads: 8 vs 6
Around 23% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1612 vs 1313

Specifications (specs)
Number of threads	8 vs 6
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1612 vs 1313

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Opteron 4238
CPU 2: Intel Xeon W5590

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1313

1612

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

7236

6640

Name	AMD Opteron 4238	Intel Xeon W5590
PassMark - Single thread mark	1313	1612
PassMark - CPU mark	7236	6640
Geekbench 4 - Single Core		2806
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core		10032
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)		2.073
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)		83.554
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)		0.602
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)		3.434
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)		10.152

Compare specifications (specs)

	AMD Opteron 4238	Intel Xeon W5590
Essentials
Family	AMD Opteron
OPN Tray	OS4238WLU6KGU
Place in performance rating	1744	1619
Series	AMD Opteron 4200 Series Processor	Legacy Intel® Xeon® Processors
Vertical segment	Server	Server
Architecture codename		Nehalem EP
Launch date		August 2009
Launch price (MSRP)		$270
Price now		$2,508.95
Processor Number		W5590
Status		Launched
Value for money (0-100)		0.73
Performance
Base frequency	3.3 GHz	3.33 GHz
L1 cache	288 KB	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	6 MB	256 KB (per core)
L3 cache	8 MB	8192 KB (shared)
Manufacturing process technology	32 nm	45 nm
Maximum core temperature	70.50°C	67°C
Maximum frequency	3.7 GHz	3.60 GHz
Number of cores	6	4
Number of threads	6	8
Unlocked
64 bit support
Bus Speed		6.4 GT/s QPI
Die size		263 mm2
Number of QPI Links		2
Transistor count		731 million
VID voltage range		0.75V -1.35V
Memory
Supported memory frequency	2200 MHz
Supported memory types	DDR3	DDR3 800/1066/1333
ECC memory support
Max memory channels		3
Maximum memory bandwidth		32 GB/s
Maximum memory size		144 GB
Compatibility
Sockets supported	C32	FCLGA1366
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	95 Watt	130 Watt
Low Halogen Options Available
Max number of CPUs in a configuration		2
Package Size		42.5mm x 45mm
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Idle States
Intel 64
Intel® AES New Instructions
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Physical Address Extensions (PAE)		40-bit
Virtualization
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)