Intel Xeon E5-4603 vs Intel Xeon E5-2660

Comparative analysis of Intel Xeon E5-4603 and Intel Xeon E5-2660 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, 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).

Intel Xeon E5-4603

Intel Xeon E5-2660

Differences

Reasons to consider the Intel Xeon E5-4603

CPU is newer: launch date 2 month(s) later

Launch date	May 2012 vs March 2012
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	4 vs 2

Reasons to consider the Intel Xeon E5-2660

4 more cores, run more applications at once: 8 vs 4
8 more threads: 16 vs 8
Around 50% higher clock speed: 3.00 GHz vs 2 GHz
2x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
2x 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 36% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1357 vs 995
2.1x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 14103 vs 6690

Specifications (specs)
Number of cores	8 vs 4
Number of threads	16 vs 8
Maximum frequency	3.00 GHz vs 2 GHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core) vs 64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core) vs 256 KB (per core)
L3 cache	20480 KB (shared) vs 10240 KB (shared)
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1357 vs 995
PassMark - CPU mark	14103 vs 6690

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: Intel Xeon E5-4603
CPU 2: Intel Xeon E5-2660

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

995

1357

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

6690

14103

Name	Intel Xeon E5-4603	Intel Xeon E5-2660
PassMark - Single thread mark	995	1357
PassMark - CPU mark	6690	14103
Geekbench 4 - Single Core		549
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core		4175
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)		9.383
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)		53.899
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)		0.842
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)		4.689
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)		12.508

Compare specifications (specs)

	Intel Xeon E5-4603	Intel Xeon E5-2660
Essentials
Architecture codename	Sandy Bridge EP	Sandy Bridge EP
Launch date	May 2012	March 2012
Launch price (MSRP)	$712	$85
Place in performance rating	2099	2129
Price now	$1,890.99	$102
Processor Number	E5-4603	E5-2660
Series	Intel® Xeon® Processor E5 Family	Intel® Xeon® Processor E5 Family
Status	Discontinued	Discontinued
Value for money (0-100)	0.78	32.05
Vertical segment	Server	Server
Performance
64 bit support
Base frequency	2.00 GHz	2.20 GHz
Bus Speed	6.4 GT/s QPI	8 GT/s QPI
Die size	294 mm	435 mm
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	256 KB (per core)
L3 cache	10240 KB (shared)	20480 KB (shared)
Manufacturing process technology	32 nm	32 nm
Maximum frequency	2 GHz	3.00 GHz
Number of cores	4	8
Number of QPI Links	2	2
Number of threads	8	16
Transistor count	1270 million	2270 million
VID voltage range	0.6V-1.35V	0.60V-1.35V
Maximum core temperature		73 °C
Memory
ECC memory support
Max memory channels	4	4
Maximum memory bandwidth	34.1 GB/s	51.2 GB/s
Maximum memory size	384 GB	384 GB
Supported memory types	DDR3 800/1066	DDR3 800/1066/1333/1600
Compatibility
Low Halogen Options Available
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	4	2
Package Size	52.5mm x 45.0mm	52.5mm x 45.0mm
Sockets supported	FCLGA2011	FCLGA2011
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	95 Watt	95 Watt
Peripherals
Max number of PCIe lanes	40	40
PCI Express revision	3.0	3.0
Scalability	4S Only	2S Only
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Identity Protection technology
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Idle States
Instruction set extensions	Intel® AVX	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® Turbo Boost technology
Intel® vPro™ Platform Eligibility
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)