Intel Xeon E5-4660 v4 vs AMD EPYC 7281

Comparative analysis of Intel Xeon E5-4660 v4 and AMD EPYC 7281 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.

Intel Xeon E5-4660 v4

AMD EPYC 7281

Differences

Reasons to consider the Intel Xeon E5-4660 v4

Around 11% higher clock speed: 3.00 GHz vs 2.7 GHz
Around 42% lower typical power consumption: 120 Watt vs 155/170 Watt
Around 13% better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 24421 vs 21621

Specifications (specs)
Maximum frequency	3.00 GHz vs 2.7 GHz
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	4 vs 2
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	120 Watt vs 155/170 Watt
Benchmarks
PassMark - CPU mark	24421 vs 21621

Reasons to consider the AMD EPYC 7281

Processor is unlocked, an unlocked multiplier allows for easier overclocking
Around 3% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1626 vs 1575

Specifications (specs)
Unlocked	Unlocked vs Locked
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1626 vs 1575

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: Intel Xeon E5-4660 v4
CPU 2: AMD EPYC 7281

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1575

1626

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

24421

21621

Name	Intel Xeon E5-4660 v4	AMD EPYC 7281
PassMark - Single thread mark	1575	1626
PassMark - CPU mark	24421	21621

Compare specifications (specs)

	Intel Xeon E5-4660 v4	AMD EPYC 7281
Essentials
Architecture codename	Broadwell	Zen
Launch date	Q2'16	June 2017
Place in performance rating	1214	1235
Processor Number	E5-4660V4
Series	Intel® Xeon® Processor E5 v4 Family	AMD EPYC 7000 Series
Status	Launched
Vertical segment	Server	Server
Family		AMD EPYC
Performance
64 bit support
Base frequency	2.20 GHz	2.1 GHz
Bus Speed	9.6 GT/s QPI
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm	14 nm
Maximum core temperature	83
Maximum frequency	3.00 GHz	2.7 GHz
Number of cores	16	16
Number of QPI Links	2
Number of threads	32	32
Die size		192 mm
L1 cache		96 KB (per core)
L2 cache		512 KB (per core)
L3 cache		32 MB
Transistor count		4800 million
Unlocked
Memory
Max memory channels	4	8
Maximum memory bandwidth	68 GB/s	307/341 GB/s
Maximum memory size	1.5 TB
Supported memory types	DDR4	DDR4
Supported memory frequency		2400/2666 MHz
Compatibility
Low Halogen Options Available
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	4	2
Package Size	45mm x 52.5mm
Sockets supported	FCLGA2011-3	TR4
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	120 Watt	155/170 Watt
Socket Count		1P/2P
Peripherals
Max number of PCIe lanes	40
PCI Express revision	3.0	x128
PCIe configurations	x4, x8, x16
Scalability	4S
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® OS Guard
Intel® Secure Key technology
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Idle States
Instruction set extensions	Intel® AVX2
Intel 64
Intel® AES New Instructions
Intel® Flex Memory Access
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Instruction Replay 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)
AMD Virtualization (AMD-V™)