AMD Opteron 6278 vs Intel Xeon W3580

Comparative analysis of AMD Opteron 6278 and Intel Xeon W3580 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization, Security & Reliability. 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 6278

Intel Xeon W3580

Differences

Reasons to consider the AMD Opteron 6278

CPU is newer: launch date 2 year(s) 8 month(s) later
12 more cores, run more applications at once: 16 vs 4
8 more threads: 16 vs 8
Around 2% higher maximum core temperature: 69°C vs 67.9°C
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 32 nm vs 45 nm
3x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
16x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
2x more L3 cache, more data can be stored in the L3 cache for quick access later
Around 13% lower typical power consumption: 115 Watt vs 130 Watt
3.8x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 13733 vs 3609

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	May 2012 vs August 2009
Number of cores	16 vs 4
Number of threads	16 vs 8
Maximum core temperature	69°C vs 67.9°C
Manufacturing process technology	32 nm vs 45 nm
L1 cache	768 KB vs 64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	16 MB vs 256 KB (per core)
L3 cache	16 MB vs 8192 KB (shared)
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	4 vs 1
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	115 Watt vs 130 Watt
Benchmarks
PassMark - CPU mark	13733 vs 3609

Reasons to consider the Intel Xeon W3580

Around 9% higher clock speed: 3.60 GHz vs 3.3 GHz
Around 55% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1557 vs 1007

Specifications (specs)
Maximum frequency	3.60 GHz vs 3.3 GHz
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1557 vs 1007

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: AMD Opteron 6278
CPU 2: Intel Xeon W3580

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1007

1557

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

13733

3609

Name	AMD Opteron 6278	Intel Xeon W3580
PassMark - Single thread mark	1007	1557
PassMark - CPU mark	13733	3609
Geekbench 4 - Single Core		2764
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core		9280
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)		1.101
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)		57.868
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)		0.357
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)		1.789
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)		5.116

Compare specifications (specs)

	AMD Opteron 6278	Intel Xeon W3580
Essentials
Architecture codename	Interlagos	Bloomfield
Family	AMD Opteron
Launch date	May 2012	August 2009
OPN Tray	OS6278WKTGGGU
Place in performance rating	1858	1844
Series	AMD Opteron 6200 Series Processor	Legacy Intel® Xeon® Processors
Vertical segment	Server	Server
Launch price (MSRP)		$215
Price now		$214.50
Processor Number		W3580
Status		Discontinued
Value for money (0-100)		8.83
Performance
64 bit support
Base frequency	2.4 GHz	3.33 GHz
Die size	316 mm	263 mm2
L1 cache	768 KB	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	16 MB	256 KB (per core)
L3 cache	16 MB	8192 KB (shared)
Manufacturing process technology	32 nm	45 nm
Maximum core temperature	69°C	67.9°C
Maximum frequency	3.3 GHz	3.60 GHz
Number of cores	16	4
Number of threads	16	8
Transistor count	2400 million	731 million
Unlocked
Bus Speed		6.4 GT/s QPI
Number of QPI Links		1
VID voltage range		0.800V-1.375V
Memory
Supported memory frequency	2000 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		24 GB
Compatibility
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	4	1
Sockets supported	G34	FCLGA1366
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	115 Watt	130 Watt
Low Halogen Options Available
Package Size		42.5mm x 45.0mm
Advanced Technologies
Fused Multiply-Add (FMA)
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
Intel® AES New Instructions
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Idle States
Instruction set extensions		Intel® SSE4.2
Intel 64
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Physical Address Extensions (PAE)		36-bit
Thermal Monitoring
Virtualization
AMD Virtualization (AMD-V™)
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)