Intel Xeon E5520 vs AMD Opteron 254

Comparative analysis of Intel Xeon E5520 and AMD Opteron 254 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).

Intel Xeon E5520

AMD Opteron 254

Differences

Reasons to consider the Intel Xeon E5520

CPU is newer: launch date 3 year(s) 6 month(s) later
3 more cores, run more applications at once: 4 vs 1
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 45 nm vs 90 nm
2x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
Around 15% lower typical power consumption: 80 Watt vs 92 Watt
Around 91% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1106 vs 578
10.2x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 4613 vs 451

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	March 2009 vs August 2005
Number of cores	4 vs 1
Manufacturing process technology	45 nm vs 90 nm
L1 cache	64 KB (per core) vs 128 KB
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	80 Watt vs 92 Watt
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1106 vs 578
PassMark - CPU mark	4613 vs 451

Reasons to consider the AMD Opteron 254

Around 11% higher clock speed: 2.8 GHz vs 2.53 GHz

Maximum frequency	2.8 GHz vs 2.53 GHz

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: Intel Xeon E5520
CPU 2: AMD Opteron 254

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1106

578

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

4613

451

Name	Intel Xeon E5520	AMD Opteron 254
PassMark - Single thread mark	1106	578
PassMark - CPU mark	4613	451
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	397
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	1969
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)	1.453
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)	62.27
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)	0.429
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)	2.436
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)	6.95

Compare specifications (specs)

	Intel Xeon E5520	AMD Opteron 254
Essentials
Architecture codename	Nehalem EP	Troy
Launch date	March 2009	August 2005
Launch price (MSRP)	$19
Place in performance rating	2717	2871
Price now	$42.39
Processor Number	E5520
Series	Legacy Intel® Xeon® Processors
Status	Launched
Value for money (0-100)	30.90
Vertical segment	Server	Server
Performance
64 bit support
Base frequency	2.26 GHz
Bus Speed	5.86 GT/s QPI
Die size	263 mm2
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	128 KB
L2 cache	256 KB (per core)	1024 KB
L3 cache	8192 KB (shared)
Manufacturing process technology	45 nm	90 nm
Maximum core temperature	72°C
Maximum frequency	2.53 GHz	2.8 GHz
Number of cores	4	1
Number of QPI Links	2
Number of threads	8
Transistor count	731 million	106 million
VID voltage range	0.75V -1.35V
Memory
ECC memory support
Max memory channels	3
Maximum memory bandwidth	25.6 GB/s
Maximum memory size	144 GB
Supported memory types	DDR3 800/1066
Compatibility
Low Halogen Options Available
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	2	2
Package Size	42.5mm x 45mm
Sockets supported	FCLGA1366	940
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	80 Watt	92 Watt
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Idle States
Intel 64
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)