Intel Xeon E5-2420 v2 vs AMD Opteron 6168

Comparative analysis of Intel Xeon E5-2420 v2 and AMD Opteron 6168 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Peripherals, Security & Reliability, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark, Geekbench 4 - Single Core, Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core.

Intel Xeon E5-2420 v2

AMD Opteron 6168

Differences

Reasons to consider the Intel Xeon E5-2420 v2

CPU is newer: launch date 3 year(s) 6 month(s) later
Around 42% higher clock speed: 2.70 GHz vs 1.9 GHz
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 22 nm vs 45 nm
Around 25% more L3 cache; more data can be stored in the L3 cache for quick access later
Around 44% lower typical power consumption: 80 Watt vs 115 Watt
Around 63% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1381 vs 845

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	September 2013 vs March 2010
Maximum frequency	2.70 GHz vs 1.9 GHz
Manufacturing process technology	22 nm vs 45 nm
L3 cache	15360 KB (shared) vs 12288 KB
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	80 Watt vs 115 Watt
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1381 vs 845

Reasons to consider the AMD Opteron 6168

6 more cores, run more applications at once: 12 vs 6
2x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
48x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
Around 33% better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 15745 vs 11796

Specifications (specs)
Number of cores	12 vs 6
L1 cache	768 KB (shared) vs 64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	6144 KB (per core) vs 256 KB (per core)
Benchmarks
PassMark - CPU mark	15745 vs 11796

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: Intel Xeon E5-2420 v2
CPU 2: AMD Opteron 6168

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1381

845

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

11796

15745

Name	Intel Xeon E5-2420 v2	AMD Opteron 6168
PassMark - Single thread mark	1381	845
PassMark - CPU mark	11796	15745
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	561
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	3249

Compare specifications (specs)

	Intel Xeon E5-2420 v2	AMD Opteron 6168
Essentials
Architecture codename	Ivy Bridge EN	Magny-Cours
Launch date	September 2013	March 2010
Launch price (MSRP)	$480
Place in performance rating	1944	1957
Price now	$579.95
Processor Number	E5-2420V2
Series	Intel® Xeon® Processor E5 v2 Family
Status	Launched
Value for money (0-100)	4.38
Vertical segment	Server	Server
Performance
64 bit support
Base frequency	2.20 GHz
Bus Speed	7.2 GT/s QPI
Die size	160 mm	346 mm
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	768 KB (shared)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	6144 KB (per core)
L3 cache	15360 KB (shared)	12288 KB
Manufacturing process technology	22 nm	45 nm
Maximum core temperature	76°C
Maximum frequency	2.70 GHz	1.9 GHz
Number of cores	6	12
Number of QPI Links	1
Number of threads	12
Transistor count	1400 million	1800 million
VID voltage range	0.65-1.30V
Maximum case temperature (TCase)		69 °C
Memory
ECC memory support
Max memory channels	3
Maximum memory bandwidth	38.4 GB/s
Maximum memory size	384 GB
Supported memory types	DDR3 800/1066/1333/1600	DDR3
Compatibility
Low Halogen Options Available
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	2	2
Package Size	45mm x 42.5mm
Sockets supported	FCLGA1356	G34
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	80 Watt	115 Watt
Peripherals
Max number of PCIe lanes	24
PCI Express revision	3.0
PCIe configurations	x4, x8, x16
Scalability	2S Only
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Identity Protection technology
Intel® OS Guard
Intel® Secure Key technology
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Idle States
Instruction set extensions	Intel® AVX
Intel 64
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
Intel® AES New Instructions
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Flex Memory Access
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® TSX-NI
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Physical Address Extensions (PAE)	46-bit
Thermal Monitoring
Virtualization
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)