Intel Xeon Gold 6346 vs Intel Xeon E5-2696 v4

Comparative analysis of Intel Xeon Gold 6346 and Intel Xeon E5-2696 v4 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, 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).

Intel Xeon Gold 6346

Intel Xeon E5-2696 v4

Differences

Reasons to consider the Intel Xeon Gold 6346

CPU is newer: launch date 4 year(s) 9 month(s) later
A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor: 10 nm vs 14 nm
2.9x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
4x more maximum memory size: 6 TB vs 1536 GB

Launch date	6 Apr 2021 vs 20 June 2016
Manufacturing process technology	10 nm vs 14 nm
L2 cache	16 MB vs 5.5 MB
Maximum memory size	6 TB vs 1536 GB

Reasons to consider the Intel Xeon E5-2696 v4

6 more cores, run more applications at once: 22 vs 16
12 more threads: 44 vs 32
Around 3% higher clock speed: 3.7 GHz vs 3.60 GHz
Around 38% more L1 cache; more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
Around 53% more L3 cache; more data can be stored in the L3 cache for quick access later
Around 37% lower typical power consumption: 150 Watt vs 205 Watt

Number of cores	22 vs 16
Number of threads	44 vs 32
Maximum frequency	3.7 GHz vs 3.60 GHz
L1 cache	1408 KB vs 1 MB
L3 cache	55 MB vs 36 MB
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	150 Watt vs 205 Watt

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: Intel Xeon Gold 6346
CPU 2: Intel Xeon E5-2696 v4

Name	Intel Xeon Gold 6346	Intel Xeon E5-2696 v4
PassMark - Single thread mark	2448
PassMark - CPU mark	56721
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)		45.233
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)		238.37
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)		2.53

Compare specifications (specs)

	Intel Xeon Gold 6346	Intel Xeon E5-2696 v4
Essentials
Architecture codename	Ice Lake	Broadwell EP
Launch date	6 Apr 2021	20 June 2016
Launch price (MSRP)	$2708
Place in performance rating	282	272
Processor Number	6346	E5-2696 v4
Series	3rd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable Processors	E5-2000
Vertical segment	Server	Server
Family		Xeon E5
Performance
Base frequency	3.10 GHz	2.2 GHz
L1 cache	1 MB	1408 KB
L2 cache	16 MB	5.5 MB
L3 cache	36 MB	55 MB
Manufacturing process technology	10 nm	14 nm
Maximum core temperature	78°C
Maximum frequency	3.60 GHz	3.7 GHz
Number of cores	16	22
Number of threads	32	44
64 bit support
Bus Speed		9.6 GT/s QPI 4800 MHz
Operating Temperature Range		-25 °C - 125 °C
Transistor count		7.2 billion
Unlocked
Memory
Max memory channels	8	4
Maximum memory size	6 TB	1536 GB
Supported memory frequency	3200 MHz
Supported memory types	DDR4-3200	DDR4-2400
ECC memory support
Maximum memory bandwidth		71.53 GB/s
Compatibility
Package Size	77.5mm x 56.5mm
Sockets supported	FCLGA4189
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	205 Watt	150 Watt
Max number of CPUs in a configuration		2
Peripherals
Max number of PCIe lanes	64	40
PCI Express revision	4.0
Scalability	2S
Number of USB ports		3.0
PCIe configurations		1x4, 1x16
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Run Sure Technology
Intel® Software Guard Extensions (Intel® SGX)
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Instruction set extensions	Intel SSE4.2, Intel AVX, Intel AVX2, Intel AVX-512
Intel 64
Intel® AES New Instructions
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Intel® Volume Management Device (VMD)
Number of AVX-512 FMA Units	2
Speed Shift technology
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Fused Multiply-Add 3 (FMA3)
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX)
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions 2 (AVX2)
Intel® TSX-NI
Intel® vPro™ Platform Eligibility
Virtualization
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)